The Ways Of The Force
by Shadow Padawan
Summary: The Force Had always been strong with Jedi Lexxa Lysk but problems with her master, her forbidden love for Anakin, and other things of such nature mke her wonder if she really does belong in the Order. Better then the summary I promise! Please R&R!
1. First Trial

**Discalimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

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**She was undoubtedly one of the most talented initiates in her group. In the whole temple even. When the other youglings looked at Lexxa Lysk they saw someone with a high chance of become the padawan of a great Jedi knight or even a Master though Force new that none of the council members where considering padawan's, haven't considered taking on a learner for a while actually. And that Friday was no different. Everyone saw a talented classmate, not the nervous wreck the girl really was. 

The small class of young initiates of about 6 to eight years of standard age settled against the back wall of a small training room. This was Lexxa's first year out of the crèche and in an initiate group. She liked living in a dormitory with her age mates rather then being packed in with children as young as one and a half standard years of age who had only recently learned to walk. But that day was testing day. The group had just learned their first hand-to-hand combat kata. And now they would be performing it, one by one. In front of the whole class.

Lexxa was a friendly girl. IN the crèche she had been known as outgoing. But she wasn't big on friends these days. Even though she had only been out of the crèche for four months she had already earned her place in a small corner. Partly because her classmates envied her and partly because a loner like quality had started to peek through in her personality. She was content in curling up with datapad and writing rather then chatting with a large group of friends.

Now the six-year-old girl sat at the end of the line with her back against the wall. Her brown hair was pulled up into a high pony tail. Her black eyes were alerted and darted to the master who had just entered the class. The group of younglings jumped to their feet and bowed, chorusing a "Good morning Master Andes" in the process. They retook their seats and Lexxa went back to fidgeting with the folds of her tunic.

"Victor Arbatskii."

A huminoid boy with a shock of blond curls that were outlined with black jumped from his seat and stumbled to the middle of the floor.

Lexxa watched him with partial attention. She was more interested in her own thoughts. It was rather a shock when she herd her name being called and saw a that a Twi'lek gir, Anisia, was retreating back to her seat.

Lexxa stumbled to her feat and advanced to the middle of the floor.

"Ready stance for your Kata."

She took the ready stance with her feet at should4er width and her arms were spread out slightly so that they were parallel to her legs/ "Son-Ghom 3, Master."

"Begin."

She took one breath and then started the kata. Lexxa stepped forward with her left foot and executed a knife hand strike. Then in a fluid motion changed it to a double block. As she went on the movements became automatic. She kept her breathing even as she counted her beat. Front Kick. Round Kick. Knife Hand Low. Knife Hand High. Punch. Punch, Spin. Spear Hand. Spear Hand. Step and Low Block. Punch. Jump Front Kick. Punch. Step with the other foot and Low Block. Punch. Left Jump Front Kick. Step and strike. Backfist. Spin and strike. Backfist. Repeat first six moves backwards. Stop!

Lexxa froze and then after a moments pause straightened and bowed. She looked toward the master with anxious yes. "Good. You may return to your seat, young one." Lexxa breathed a sigh of relief. She had passed.

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A/N: Umm yes this was just sor of an intro chapter but please reveiw anyways! Thanks :) _


	2. Padawan Choosing Day

"Force this is exciting!" Lenna cheered.

Nine year old Lexxa rolled over in bed rubbing her eyes. "Lenna it's SO early. What in the galaxy are you so hyper about? Please don't tell me you ate two bags of muja candy like last time."

"No! Of course not!" her roommate gushed happily. "I can't believe you actually forgot! Today's Padawan Choosing day!"

Lexxa bolted up into a sitting position, now fully awake. "Force! I so hope I that I'll be chosen today!"

"I saw Master Nova watching you during saber training yesterday. Besides, what are you worried about? You've got plenty of time" Lenna commented as she threw her gold hair into a high pony tail and then twirled it into a bun.

"But I passed the exams to be available for choosing nine months ago!"

"So? You turned nine a week ago Lexi. You know that the knights don't want apprentices that young. They want them somewhere around ten. Everyone knows that."

"Yea sure. Everyone already knows that you'll be chosen by Master Con'rey" Lexxa grumbled as she slid out of bed and started to pull on a clean tunic.

"For certain that is not. Choose another padawan he might. Always in motion the future is."

The girls burst out laughing at Lenna's imitation of Master Yoda and tumbled out into the hallway, still giggling.. Usually the halls were quiet at seven in the morning, most of the initiates were just starting to wake up. But Padawan Choosing days, that happened once ever three months, were different. Everyone was way too excited to sleep. Lenna and Lexxa chatted happily as they were swept along with the rest of the crowd to breakfast. They met Galahan, Gal for short, at the entrance of the cafeteria. By that time Lenna was bubbling over with excitement. "Force it's crowded in here!" Lenna exclaimed. "I'll go get the food and you guys go find seats."

After finding some open chairs the two sat down opposite of each other. 'So do you think you'll be chosen today?" Lexxa asked as she fiddled with the edges of her tunic.

Galahan was a year older then her and Lenna. His jet black hair streaked naturally with bright alligator green stripes was calmed back as usual. His intense green eyes watched her for a moment with extreme scrutiny. "I don't think so. I…I might end up in the Agra Corps."

Lexxa flinched involuntarily. What every initiate feared was the AgriCorps. "Gal, you're ten! You've still god three years to go."

"It's the visions" he muttered. Galahan's one big talent was Force Visions.

"Well you know what Yoda says. Careful you must be, when looking into the future you are. Always in motion the future is."

Gal smiled appreciatively as Lenna came skidding over to the table with two trays loaded with food. "These are for the three of us" She explained as she plopped down into a chair. 'So Gal? How much ya wanna bet that Lexi is gonna be chosen by Master Nova?"

Lexxa snorted. "In another lifetime maybe. She has an apprentice already. Adam I think it is. Adam Baancs."

Lenna nodded and hurried to swallow her mouthful. "So it is. Time for him to be knighted already don't you think?"

The large chamber in which the choosing was to be conducted was filling up quickly as the hour of the choosing approached. The initiates stood in three strait even rows along one wall while the knights took their places alongside the opposite wall.

"Lenna. Psst Lenna, look. Master Con'rey here's" Lexxa whispered inclining her head toward the tall Twi'lek with green skin and brown robes that had a gold tint to them.

Lenna stood a little straighter. Lexxa could have laughed. Lenna was so sure that she would be chosen. The hope had been planted into her heart and mind after Master Con'rey started coming to the training rooms during their practices and talking to her sometimes.

Lexxa wasn't exactly jealous. This was Lenna's fourth choosing and only her third. Plus Lenna was slightly older then her. Ether way the feeling was inappropriate. She was more upset that if Lenna was chosen she might not be able to see her friend anymore. Then it was just be her and Gal. Unless he was chosen too of course.

The room fell silent as Master Thetcher who was to be conducting the choosing stepped forward with the list of names of the younglings.

"Teres Brisk."

A boy of ten stepped forward brushing his bight orange hair out of his eyes. There was a moment pause and then a young woman came forth from the group of knights. "I would like Teres to be my padawan."

Master Thetcher nodded. 'Your padawan young Brisk is Knight Cho."

The pair bowed to each other and the walked to off to the side and took their places at the far right wall, side by side.

Several names were called before Gal's name was announced. There was a long pause before he was dismissed to the left side of the room. Several more names and then Lexxa was called out. She stepped forward and scanned the crowd for possible takers. She had noticed a knight there that she hadn't seen before at the choosing and she couldn't recall him hanging around during their training sessions. His black curly hair framed his hard but handsome features, he looked Rushanian to her, and went down to the base of his neck. His light grey eyes were piercing and when he made eye contect with her she shivered slightly. There was something mysterious and slightly creepy about the tall new knight. For a fleeting moment she thought that he was going to request her but suddenly found that she was being dismissed to the side of the room. She joined hal and another girl, Jayna. She tried to regain eye contact with the young knight but he wasn't looking her way anymore.

There were only two more initiates left, Lenna and another girl.

"Style Rice."

The perky redhead that was standing next to Lenna bounced forward. Lexxa watched curiously wondering who would choose her. To her amazement Knight Con'rey was the one step forward and request to train Style. Lexxa could feel Lenna's shock and disbelief radiating through the Force.

"Lenna Ji."

Lenna took a step forward even though she was the last one to be called. Several moments passed an Lenna was dismissed to join Lexxa, Gal, and Jayna.

"That was cruel" Gal commented as the three walked the long corridor leading to their dorms.

"It's not fair" Lenna commented. "I was so sure… Why did Master Con'rey talk to me if there was no intention to choose me in the first place?"

"Knights talk to lots of initiates before taking a padawan" Lexxa reasoned, though she was rather shocked herself There was some guilty pleasure, she had to admit, in not having to have to say goodbye to Lenna but she felt bad for her friend.

"I know" Lenna muttered.

"If you guys don't mind I'm gonna go do Katas" Lexxa said and broke off from the other two and took a left turn at the intersection.

"She always does this after choosing day" Gal said to no one in particular.

"It's of her way of relaxing I think" Lenna said rolling her eyes.

X3 X3 X3

Lexxa entered the small training room set aside from initiates. It was purposefully located near their dorms and far away from the training rooms that the knights and padawans used.

She unclipped her training saber from her belt and took a ready stance. They had just finished learning a new Kata and she was determined to practice it to perfection.

Or maybe it was just that it gave her something to do…


	3. Knight Lottos

_A/N: Hey everone! Here's chapter three. Now I'm sure there must be a good reason why no one is reveiwing but please do drop me a comment it would be highly apreciated ;) Thanks._

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_The small training room was full of the noise of humming training lightsabers. The initiates had just been pared up into sparring pairs and all had taken ready stances. The signal to start was given and the young Jedi started circling around each other methodically. Lexxa watched her sparring partner intently. If it was her choice she would be sparring Lenna or Gal but the saber master had pared then this time. Braid Krepht was her sparring partner on this particular day. He was a head taller and of a strong build. But that wasn't what she disliked about him. The huminoid was a compete bully. Well as much a bully as a Jedi got but she hated the way he looked straight through her in total disregard. Ok not hated….disliked.

'Ten minutes until class ends' she thought trying to make herself focus. There was no need for dwelling on her dislike of him. She ran forward swinging her lightsaber in a tight arch. Braid blocked it confidently and attempted to strike back but Lexxa was too quick for him. She ducked and attempted a low slice quickly then brining her lightsaber into a high block position in order to parry Braid's counter attack.

As the initiates spared a young knight with black curly hair and durasteel eyes appeared in the doorway. He made his way nonchalantly into a corner and leaning against the wall proceeded to watch the dueling initiates with a cool gaze, arms folded across his chest. He zeroed in on the young girl in the corner who was sparring a boy a head taller then her and was content to study her every move.

"Master Lottos, a pleasure to see you here."

Lottos bowed curtly to the saber master.  
"I hope I'm not intruding, Master Til."

"No, not at all. Tell me Ser-Gay, you haven't actually been thinking about taking on a padawan?"

The twenty-seven-year-old knight smirked. "I'm picky Rudolph. But I think I have my eye on a certain young initiate." Something slightly disturbing glinted in the tall knight's eyes that made Master Til feel uncomfortable.

"So which one will it be then, if that's not a secret? This is a rather talented group."

Lottos looked out into the sea of potentials. His eyes focused on the girl in the corner again and he smiled vaguely.

Master Til traced Lottos' gaze and smiled knowingly. "Lexxa Lysk then eh? May I make a suggestion Ser-Gay?"

"Go on" Lottos confirmed sharply as though waiting for a personal attack.

"It's just she's… I'm afraid you two will clash too much. She has a temper."

"A temper can be tamed with training and I'd rather have a padawan that needs taming rather then a couch potato" Lottos said harshly.

"Suit yourself" Master Til shrugged, taken aback by the sudden outburst. "Now if you excuse me I've got a class to dismiss."

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Lexxa slipped into the empty training room an hour after class was dismissed. She liked spending time here. Meditation never worked for her the way it did for Gal. She meditated better while in action.

She unclipped her training saber from her belt and twirled the hilt in one hand. She took a ready poison and complied to working through a routine that she had set for herself over the years, adding on gradually as she gain experience and learned new maneuvers/ This gave her at east twenty minutes of kata's to keep herself occupied with.

She was about half way trough when she suddenly became aware of being watched. She wondered who it was. She was sure that it wasn't Gal or Lenna for she would have recognized their Force signatures instantly. It wasn't any of the masters ether, she decided after reaching out with the Force. And probably not even any one of her classmates. She was sure none of them would come here during their free time.

She didn't stop the flow and flurry of movements even as she pondered the strange, lurking, new presents in the room. It wasn't anyone she knew and they were obviously trying to not be conspicuous. But as uncomfortable as she felt under the stranger's scrutiny she wouldn't stop. Finally she executed her last strike and froze dramatically in the last pose.

"Do that last kata again" a cool voice floated toward her from the entrance.

Lexxa swirled to come face to face with a knight with whom at first she thought she wasn't acquainted though he looked familiar. She could swear on the Force that she had seen him before but where? She bowed curtly.

He returned the greeting with a nod. "Go on. Do the last kata again."

"Yes, Master…"

"Lottos" the knight supplied.

Lexxa nodded and fell into the ready stance of the last kata in her routine. She had only done the first three moves when Lottos grabbed her wrist firmly making her stop mid-kick and face him.

"Try that move again and when you go into your kick don't make your entrance sloppy. Keep your knee tighter in."

Lexxa nodded wordlessly and repeated the moves. She had no idea why this knight was instructing her on the kata but she finally realized where she had seen him. He was the knight she had made eye contact with on Padawan Choosing day a month ago. 


	4. Force Fun

Lexxa sat cross legged near the back wall of the training room. Lenna and Gal were sitting across from her. The young girl twirled the handle of her level 3 training lightsaber from one hand to the other.

"Master Til never comes this late" Gal said suddenly, looking up.

"Hmmm" Lexxa hummed distractedly as she kept staring at a girl that sat with Braid, another boy, and two more girls a little distance away from the group of three. Lenna watched Lexxa for a moment then turned around. She looked at the girl that Lexxa was staring at. Her pigtails were bristling slightly, her hair moving as though rippled by a breeze. But surely there wasn't enough air movement in the room for that… "Umm…Lexi what are you trying to do to Asta?"

Lexxa ignored her and then she grinned as though she had finally reached something that she had been trying to get a grip on. Then she outstretched her hand just a bit and flexed it in quick jerky movements. Suddenly Asta's pigtails started to jump, jerk, and twitch. The girl screamed and grabbed at her hair. She spun around, looking for the offender. Lexxa stopped her staring and pretended to be focused on twirling her lightsaber handle. Instantly the pigtails stopped their dance.

By then the room was full of laughter and giggling. Lenna was laughing heartily with the rest and Gal smiled broadly, it wasn't easy to get him loud and excited, the opposite of Lenna. Lexxa couldn't help but flash a guilty yet gleeful smile at her friends.

Asta rose, looking quit stern, and made her way over to Lexxa and her friends. Braid and another girl followed her. "So" Asta asked, stopping right in front of Lexxa, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Why? Should I?" Lexxa retorted.

"Look here…I know that all that was your doing!"

"Prove it" Lexxa said staring Asta straight in the eyes. The other girl behind Asta started to look uncomfortable.

"Yea!" Lenna piped up "Prove it!"

"No one asked you" Braid snapped. "Or you know" he said turning to Asta with a sneer, "Maybe it was meditation boy over here." He indicated Gal.

Gal looked up at Braid with seeming indifference but Lexxa felt the tremor of fear that came clearly across through the Force. Braid must have felt it too because his smile widened. "You leave him alone!" Lexxa shouted jumping up so that she was right in front of Braid. She felt Gal tugging at her tunic telling her to sit down. Gal wasn't one for fights.

"Hey guys!" he finally called out, trying desperately to prevent a fight. The whole training room was quiet by then, curious initiates edged in closer to better see and hear what was going on. "Can't we just settle this calmly? Like Jedi."

Lexxa looked reluctant but seemed to be willing to proclaim a temporary truce. Braid, however, had different plans. "Duel."

"What?" Lexxa sputtered. But before she knew it the whole training room was filled with cheering initiates, chanting the same thing over and over again. "Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!"

X3 X3 X3

Jedi knight Roe Tassel had gladly agreed to teach the class of young initiates that day. The children always had a positive effect on him. Possibly he could choose for himself a new padawan. Or maybe not. He had seen the knighting of 2 padawans and at fifty-nine he felt that he could easily take on another young one. Especially since life expectancy for humans on his native planet was 130 years on average… well he wasn't about to waist that remarkable amount of time. The Jedi briskly marched to the training room and palmed open the door. He wasn't expecting the sight that met his eyes.

A huminoid boy was sparring with a human girl a head shorter then him. And the girl was winning too, Tassel remarked. Her even strong strikes drove the huminoid boy back and put him clearly on the defensive. The initiates at this level would have already a good knowledge of Form I as it was taught to all initiates and would have started with the principals of other forms. But the girl, he recognized her as initiate Lysk, was obviously favoring Ataru and was at the level of a young padawan who has already chosen their preferred form. The whole group was so excitedly watching the two duelists that none of them had noticed the entered instructor.

Tassel was content with watching the spar for a few moments before intervening after Lexxa's perfectly executed overhead flip. He had seen enough and they really weren't suppose to be sparring in the first place.

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"You so have to teach me how to do an overhead flip, Lexi! Where did you learn that anyways?"

Gal gave Lenna a strange look. "She spends hours in the training room while we're all figuring out how to steal ice cream" he said in between kicks and slashes.

Lexxa grinned. "He has a point you know."

The class had been split into groups of three to practice an element from the kata that they would be learning next. Tassel moved from group to group correcting and advising the younglings. He moved to Lexxa's group and watched the for a while. Then he moved forward and fixed Lenna's feet. Then he moved to Gal. "You're aiming too high. You're not suppose to be taking off his head just yet." Lexxa giggled. Then Tassel progressed to her. He put his hands over hers and changed her grip on the hilt. "Now try the second strike….see now it doesn't feel weird anymore." Tassel moved on leaving a blushing Lexxa in his wake/

"Wow" Lenna said "I guess even you make mistakes."

Lexxa rolled her eyes. "I'm so gad you don't have Force Use with me."

"But I do" Gal snickered.

"Don't you dare tell her anything" Lexxa growled giving him a meaningful look.

"Oh come on it was so funny last week when…Ow! What was that for?"

"For blabbing."


	5. Chosen

_A/N: Thanks for the reveiws guys! here's the next chapter.

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__SEVERAL DAYS LATER_

The bell rang for morning break and the halls were flooded with chattering younglings. Lexxa, Lenna, and Gal filed out of Galactic History with the rest of their classmates. Gal made for the gardens and the girls followed him complacently. It was a sort of habit that had worked itself into their daily routine. During morning break they would head for the gardens. Gal would meditate, Lenna and Lexxa would watch him for a few moments before Lenna went to get food and Lexxa would remain sitting quietly next to Gal. She never meditated but simply sat there picking at the grass, lost somewhere in her own thoughts. Then right before the bell rang Lenna would return to bring both of them back down to earth.

"Why do you even bother going?" Gal asked. His tone wasn't accusing, it rarely ever was, Gal being the quiet fellow that he was, simply curious.

Lenna shrugged. "I dunno. It started out because I thought you guys would actually want to talk. Then I gave up on that since both of you tend to take up the free time being lost in some other world that I am currently not aware of. So then I simply sat there to wait until the lines died down a little to get food. Now I guess I just do it…well just because. There doesn't have to be an explanation for everything you know?" Lenna sounded exasperated and amused at the same time. Lexxa watched Gal and Lenna exchange fleeting smiles. There was something deep about their friendship. Being complete opposites, in Lexxa's opinion anyways, it seemed that they should never be able to get along. And yet there was that quite undercurrent of unspoken affection that they felt, that closeness that made the friendship much deeper then what could be seen on the outside.

They approached the gardens. Lexxa breathed in the sweet smell of plants that wafted their way as they approached. Everything was like usual…except it wasn't. A tall figure was leaning against the transparensteel wall close to the entrance. Lexxa frowned in confusion. She had never seen this person around here. He was obviously some knight but why he was there was something that Lexxa didn't know. What she did know was that he was now looking at them. He waved the three of them over and looked at Lexxa as though he was scanning her like an ID card. Finally, seeming satisfied, he spoke. "Lexxa Lysk?"

Lexxa nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"The Council would like to see you."

"The Council?" Lexxa asked stupidly.

The knight looked confused. "Yes…the High Coucil."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Why do they want to see her?" Lenna piped up eagerly.

The knight eyed her sharply but Gal grabbed Lenna's sleeve and dragged her away, calling, "We'll see you later, Lexi," over his shoulder.

"I'll take you there" the older Jedi told her and turning started to lead the way. Lexxa fell in step with him.

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By the time they had reached the Council Chamber doors Lexxa was in a complete daze. She had glimpsed parts of the temple that she had never ever seen before. And there was this impending feeling of doom. She had heard many tales and rumors about the council from young padawans who would come to visit their still un-chosen friends in their free time. And they all talked about how impending and scary the Council was. And how nerve wrecking it was to stand in front of the masters. Except, they said, you weren't even standing in front of them. You couldn't even see some of them because they all sat around in a circle. 'Great. Exactly what I need…to feel ambushed' Lexxa thought sarcastically.

Suddenly the doors swooshed open and the knight marched her in. Lexxa gazed around amazed. The walls of the circular room where almost all filled with the large window that ran around the whole chamber. The masters sat in a circle on plushy, comfortably looking, chairs. The feeling here was of serenity and wisdom and peace. However this did nothing to sooth the young girl's nerves as she felt all eyes in the room turn to examine her. 'It's like they're looking right through me' Lexxa thought annoyed and instinctively pulled up her mental shields, making them as strong as she could. She knew they wouldn't help if the Council members wanted to look into her mind but at least her thoughts wouldn't be broadcasted to the whole room, for Force sakes!

"Masters, I have brought initiate Lysk as you asked."

"Thank you, knight Lir. Dismissed you are" spoke the small green troll. Lexxa recognized him as master Yoda. She knew who most of the council members were…it's just that seeing them was different them knowing about them. The knight bowed and exited, the doors closing behind him with a distinctive swoosh.

Lexxa walked to the center of the room where two men parted to let her stand in between them. Lexxa took her place in between the two knights, who she had just only then noticed, and bowed respectfully to the masters. Now she suddenly realized that she new who the two knights were. Master Lottos stood on her left and Master Tassel stood on her right. A strange tingling now filled her. Almost as though the Force was trying to tell her something but she shook it off as a bad case of nerves.

"As I was saying" Master Tassel continued "I have never heard of putting an initiate on hold. Isn't there any rule to speak against such an act?" Lexxa was sure that if it wasn't for the trained Jedi calm, Tassel would sound rather frustrated.

Now Master Lottos turned to look at Tassel and his eyes were unnervingly cold. "As I have mentioned before I have a mission scheduled which might prevent me from attending the choosing. And at least I'm not a padawan hog."

The insults were cool and controlled. He meant more then he said. Lexxa looked at the staring contest that the two knights seemed to engage in before Tassel started to speak again only to be silenced by Master Yoda.

"Enough, we have heard. Stop this bickering, you will! No rule to prevent such an act exists, Knight Tassel. But unheard of such a thing is, Knight Lottos. Decide, this council will, if find peace, the two of you can not."

"Why did you request the girl's presents Knight Lottos?" Mace Windu asked calmly, steeping his fingers as he leaned forward in his chair.

All of a sudden Lexxa seemed to be overcome by the realization that the initiate that was being fought over was herself. Her head spun with this new discovery and she subconsciously wondered if she was just dreaming.

"I know that the initiates aren't exactly allowed to have a say in the matter of whom will become their master but I suppose that in this case Initiate Lysk should decide."

"How so?"

Lottos didn't falter a bit under the intense gaze of Master Windu whose eyes were boring into him. "I believe that the first formations of a training bond have already formed between her and a knight."

"Master Lottos, you do realize that pre-making a training bond is unacceptable and completely inappropriate?" Tassel said, his eyes growing large with dismay.

Lottos remained unfazed. "I didn't have to do anything Tassel. I would think that you'd know that the Force does that on its own accord often times?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"I suppose it would be unwise to go against the will of the Force and to destroy the primitive bond that this young child has with a possibly master."

Tassel objected "The child is too young to feel this bond even if one in these primitive stages of development did exist."

"I request the councils permission to test what I have already felt" Lottos continued, ignoring Tassel's protests.

"Hmmmh. Like this I do not but a point you have, Knight Lottos. Young one?"

Lexxa suddenly realized that she was being addressed and found herself utterly startled by it. "Yes, Master Yoda?" She finally managed to say, her voice sounding small.

"Reach out to the force you will. Search your mind you will. See if a bond you find. Tell us of it you will."

Lexxa nodded. "Yes, Master Yoda." She closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Then sunk into the currents of the Force and into her own mind and Force presents. Something nagged at her from the corner of her consciousness and she reached for it bravely. It was the end of a link. A fragile, tender, feeble link. But a link just the same. It shimmered and shifted, slipping from and into her grasp. If only she could figure out to where, or whom, this link lead. She widened her perceptions to the Force presences in the room. Suddenly she felt her inexperienced senses become overloaded and she withdrew. Then taking a slow deep breath, reached out again, but limited herself to the two knights standing on ether side of her. Then she started pulling herself along the link, sometimes almost loosing hold on it. It wasn't easy to perform such an exercise. The link was elementary and she was still young, but she continued her course. Suddenly she realized that she was at the other end of the link. Another mind welcomed her and she new the other mind all too well. The Force signature was rather familiar by now and…

Lexxa came out of the trance with a start. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself face to face with Ser-Gay Lottos, who was staring at her intently. "So, young one?" he queried quietly.

'Yes, I-I…felt a… a link…like a bond."

"And who did his link lead you to?" Mace Windu asked.

Lexxa swallowed. The old Jedi's stare was discomforting and unnerving. "It…it lead me to Master Lottos."

'Very well then" Windu continued. "Initiate Lysk will become your padawan, Knight Lottos."

Lottos bowed curtly. "Thank you, Master."

"The braiding ceremony is tomorrow at eight. Jedi Lysk, a knight or senior padawan will come tomorrow to escort you. Be ready to move your things after the ceremony."

They were then all dismissed. As they left Lexxa caught Tassel's look. A sort of "Good Luck" but too sarcastic to be of comfort. Lottos and herself parted ways after he escorted her, in silence, to the area in the temple to which she was more accustomed to. The only thing he said to her was "Good bye, my padawan." She could have sworn that he had stressed the word "my" by she could hardly think about it at the moment. All she could think was, 'I've been chosen…I'm a padawan…'


	6. The Braiding Ceremony

_A/N: Sorry for the lateness. Finals really messed me up._

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"So what did they want?"

Lexxa stepped back, mildly startled. She had, of course, expected Lenna to ambush her, but seeing Gal there was somehow strange. She walked through the door calmly and then shut it behind her. "You guys…I have something to tell you!" She was now aware of the huge grin that had formed it's way onto her face.

"What?" Lenna asked impatiently.

"I…I have been chosen!"

"Chosen?" Lenna's eyes grew large. "You mean like chosen chosen? Like by a knight? To become a padawan?"

Gal rolled his eyes "I think that that's what that means." He quickly had to put his hands over his ears to block out the girls' screaming as they jumped up and down and hugged. "Geez…I thought Jedi were suppose to be calm and...ow! Lenna will you stop hitting me?"

"Oh stop being such a no-fun-poojoo! Lexxa's a padawan! Do you know what hat means?"

"Harder training?" Gal shrugged.

"You're just jealous because you won't get to be a padawan. Because you know that you won't get chosen!" it was an outburst that the blonde regretted.

Gal stood up shrugging again. "If it is the will of the Force, then let it be so." He walked o the door and turning back before leaving called quietly, "Congratulations Lexi."

After the door closed Lexxa turned to glare at Lenna. "What did you say that for? We don't know if that's gonna happen and he's scared like Sith that it will! You don't have to rub it in!"

Lenna looked down looking dumbfounded at her own outburst. "I'm so dumb. I'll go talk to him."

Lexxa held her back. "No, I'll talk to him."

Lenna looked up at Lexxa. "You know I'd never want to hurt him right? I…just…" her eye's glistened with tears and she found herself unable to finish the sentence.

"Oh stop with the tear!" Lexxa snapped, "you're not in the crèche anymore!" Then more softly she added "He'll understand. He always does."

Lenna nodded and Lexxa started briskly down the hall, determined to find Gal.

* * *

Lexxa peeked cautiously from around a tree and swept the small clearing with her gaze. She didn't need to look long for the Brunette boy who sat cross legged under one of the trees on the far side of the clearing. Lexxa wondered why she hadn't looked here first. Gal spent as much time in the garden as she did in the training room. "No wonder he has Force visions" Lenna had once said. "Anyone who meditates so much has ought to have SOME answer from the Force." It had been a joke but Lexxa had a strange feeling that somewhere deep inside Lenna did believe that.

Lexxa walked over to Gal and sat quietly in front of him. It would be better for him to acknowledge her then for her to intrude forcefully on his interlude. There was a pause before Gal opened his eyes and regarded Lexxa with a quizzical look.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked softly.

Gal shook his head. "it's probably just me being paranoid."

Lexxa considered mentioning Lenna but she knew that that wasn't the reason why she was there. Lenna and Gal would talk later in their own way.

"Who chose you anyways?" Gal asked, changing the subject.

Lexxa relayed the events of the council meeting and then sat quietly, waiting for Gal to speak. 'Well" Gal said finally, "it looks like you're gonna make a nice team." He grinned and Lexxa laughed.

"I felt kind of uncomfortable" she admitted.

Gal shrugged. "It's gonna be weird having someone be able to sneak into your head I bet."

Lexxa nodded enthusiastically. At least Gal was smiling and his eyes were brighter now that his mind was on something other then his possible failure to find a master in due time. They talked for a while longer until Lexxa finally got up and brushing off her tunic said, "I better go now. I still have to pack my stuff up and that Galactic History paper isn't going to write itself.

Gal rose as well. "Tell Lenna that I'm not mad at her."

"I will."

* * *

The large double doors of the Ceremony Chamber swooshed open and Lexxa stepped into the almost completely dark room except for the lightsabers that made a circle around the room. Master Lottos was standing in the middle and he looked back toward her when she had entered. Lexxa gulped nervously as she went to stand in the middle facing Lottos. She knew what she was supposed to do and she knew the vows that she would have to give, but it still felt awkward somehow.

Lottos came down on one knee in front of her and took the strand of hair that was hanging behind her ear and pulled it taunt. The rest of Lexxa's hair was up in a neat bun. Lottos split the stand into three parts and made the first interweave. "I, Jedi Ser-Gay Lottos accept Jedi Lexxa Lysk as my padawan…"

Lexxa frantically tried to get around the lump that had formed in her throat as she felt Lottos crease the next interval. She had made vows to the Order and to the Republic before. They were required of all initiates after the passing of their Padawan Availability exams. But this was bigger…this was something that she had been looking forward to ever since her exams and even before that. And now standing here seemed almost surreal. "I, Jedi Lexxa Lysk, accept Jedi Ser-Gay Lottos as my master..."

"…to teach and protect."

"…to obey and respect."

There was a pause as Lottos formed the middle intertwine of the braid. Lexxa had noted how, though he spoke rather quietly, Lottos' voice seemed to fill the chamber, echoing, commanding, all encompassing. Then they spoke in unison. "I swear to remain loyal. Through Light and through Dark. Through peace and through war. I surrender myself to the will of the Force. Which has formed this bond that will bind us…as master and Padawan."

Lexxa heard the soft snap of the band that bound together the end of her braid. There was a soft snap his of a saber and the extra length of hair on her braid fell to the floor. Now her braid hung only to her chin. But it would grow in time. By the time they went off world it would be a couple of inches below her chin and would be more clearly distinguishable.

Lottos stood and handed Lexxa the Level 4 training lightsaber and she clipped it to her belt where her old one use to be. Then the pair turned and faced Master Yoda as all the 'sabers in the room were powered off and dim lights came on around the room. Yoda then said a long speech on the importance of the master/padawan relationship and the bond that they would come to develop and share. He ended his speech the standard "May the Force be with you." Lexxa and her new master bowed and exited the chamber.

Lexxa looked expectantly up at her new master. He observed her from the corner of his eye and then said brusquely "We will return to your dorm so that you can pick up your things and then we will move them to my quarters. After I suppose we will both be ready for midday meal so I suppose a stop at the Dinning Hall will be in order. And after that…well we will see. He looked down at her looking for an acknowledgement of his words.

"Yes, Master." The phrase was new and tasted strange in her mouth. Strange, but quite pleasant.

* * *

_A/N: Now be good Jedi and please reveiw :)_


	7. First Impressions

A/N: Wohoo! the update's finally here! i don't know if I've done shoutouts yet...but I'll do them right now anyways.

Thank you to **BellaRu**, **Tambrey**, and **Ripple in the Force, **for your reviews!

**ClassicalBrunette:** I think i replied to you but anywaysI like to repeat my characters so they're sort of a cast and that they fit in with the canon characters and SW storyline better. Forbidden has been updated recently (well more or less) and as far as LITS goes...well I know that it is taking forever but hand in there! It's not shelved!

* * *

Lexxa stared at the data pad in her hand. She re-read the information on her new courses once again and still stared. There was so much more going on all of a sudden. So many more subjects then she was ever use to. So much less free time. 

She lifted her head to look at her master who was watching her from across the room. "They still won't let me teach you Force Use." he told her, though it sounded more like he was thinking out loud then actually making a comment.

Lexxa nodded quietly 'At least I don't have it with Master Yoda and that cane of his' she thought triumphantly.

"You see, Padawan, they don't let us teach our padawans the ways of the Force yet, not until you are a Senior Padawan . Though they always come to us if you break a 'philosophical rule' with their complaints. If there is a reason for me to be displeased with the council it is this. You'll find I feel that many of their views are…painfully impractical. What works in theory doesn't always work in reality." He stopped suddenly at the slightly confused look on Lexxa's face and then….laughed.

This only confused her more. But she smiled shyly nonetheless.

"I think that you're receiving too much information for one day to handle properly. Though I suppose your new room can't bee too much of a discovery and you'll get use to all those courses. Now let's go down to the Dining Hall. It's midday meal and I am hungry personally." Lottos grabbed his cloak and started for the door of the apartment with Lexxa trailing closely behind him.

Lexxa tried hard to memorize the way they were going but she new that she'd get undoubtedly lost once she ventured out on her own. She was never good with directions anyways.

They came to a set of double doors which swished open allowing them entrance into the Dining Hall. Lexxa looked around, taking in the view of the large amount of padawan's and knights that sat at long tables, in clusters or pair, as they ate their meals. The serving line was much like in the initiates cafeteria so Lexxa spent the time looking around.

"Morning and Midday meals take place here. So does the evening mea" Lottos was explaining. "But sometimes we might have Evening meal in our quarters."

Lexxa didn't find a reasonable way to respond so she kept to herself. Lottos led over to the end of a table where a knight was sitting by herself. "You'll be able to sit with your age mates what you get some friends. I suppose it's better that you eat with me today for we will be going to the gardens and the training rooms after this.

"Yes, Master." It wasn't much but she found it hard to find much to say anyways. Lenna would laugh, saying that Gal was rubbing off on her.

The solitary knight looked up when Lexxa and Lottos approached. 'All alone today Marr'Shaa?" Lottos asked casually as he sat down across from her.

Knight Nova nodded. "Ever since Adam was knighted two weeks ago it's been slightly strange. I don't see him much anymore."

Lotos shrugged. "He'll come around. If he doesn't…well. I bet you'll be finding yourself a new charge soon anyways."

Nova smiled slightly. "You want to introduce me Ser-Gay?" She indicated Lexxa with a nod.

"Oh…yes. This is my padawan, Lexxa Lysk. Lexxa, this is my friend, Knight Nova."

"Nice to meet you, Lexxa."

"You as well master nova" Lexxa replied nodding her head.

Marr'Shaa gave her a smile. They had met briefly before and Lexxa knew that Master Nova had been watching her during some of the initiate 'saber practices.

Diner went smoothly with Nova and Lottos talking about politics in the Outer Rim and Lexxa listen to them quietly. She noticed that her master was rather outspoken in his opinions and preferred to control the situation. Master Nova let him. Lexxa's mental note taking was interrupted when Lottos got up and put a hand on her shoulder, gripping it firmly. "Let's go, Padawan." They said their goodbyes to Marr'Shaa who looked slightly bemused at Lotto's abrupt exit. Yet there was a knowing look on her face as though it was customary for her friend to do such.

"Where are we going now, Master?" Lexxa asked, slightly less timid now then she had been in the beginning of the day.

'Training rooms." The curt reply said enough. She would just have to wait and see them.

The training rooms were huge compared the initiates' ones. Some of the larger ones had trasperansteel walls and Lexxa watched in awe as the older padawans and knights performed katas and sparred. The Force Use training rooms had irregular indentation in the walls spaced out erratically. The larger ones looked like steps and the smaller ones like hand or foot holds. Ledges were placed at several altitudes, some as high as ten meters off the ground. Some supplies buckets were nestled in the corners.

One of the rooms with a transparensteel wall was occupied and Lexxa stopped to watch as a master threw different objects at his young padawan with the Force. The boy tried desperately tried to avoid them flipping over his head and levitating to the second highest ledge. Two cubes flew at him at once and he ducked one and Force pushed away the other.

Lexxa felt her master's presents behind her. "He's trying to get that red bag over there while avoiding the 'obstacles'" Lotto's explained.

Lexxa watched as the padawan swiftly jumped from ledge to ledge toward the opposite side of the room where the small bag lay inconspicuously. When he was almost to it the boy jumped down from the ledges, barely twisting out of the way of a cube heading his way. He landed off balance and rolled to break his fall. The padawan tried to avoid the tirade of objects heading his way. But he didn't react fast enough and one of the cubes hit him in the head. The boy fell over onto his back and the flying objects all tumbled to the ground. The knight headed toward his charge to help him up.

"Is he hurt?" Lexxa asked her master, concerned.

Lottos shook his head. "No, the cubes aren't that heavy. He'll be quiet alright."

Lexxa returned to her observation. The knight was speaking to his padawan now, shaking his head reproachfully. He didn't look mad though.

"Let's go, Padawan" Lottos said putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her slightly, away from the trasparensteel.

"Yes, Master" she complied.

Lottos lead her to the Gardens next. The Western Gardens more specifically. Lexxa gasped once she stepped in. 'Gal will be SO jealous when I tell him!' was her first coherent thought. Sweet smells wafted at her and what felt like a calm warm breeze blew back an errant strand of her hair. There was a faint chirping of birds and the lush green landscape of grass and trees spread out as far as she could see. The gurgling of a stream could be herd from somewhere near by. The garden was bathed by the sunrays that shined through the transparent roof.

"There are four main gardens," Lottos was saying. "The atmosphere here is kept quiet and serine. There are four smaller gardens, though they are rather lovely as well, and the younger padawan enjoy playing there."

"This place is gorgeous" Lexxa breathed. The site was breathtaking. She hadn't seen anything like this in her initiate days. "Am I allowed in here?" It seemed impossible.

"Yes…" Lottos drew out, "as long as you are well behaved. Come, there is one more place that I must show you."

They arrived at another set of double doors, these had intricate engravings in them and where not automatic. Lottos pushed the doors open and strode in with Lexxa followed close behind him. Lottos smirked at the awed look on the young girl's face. "Welcome to the Room Of A Thousand Fountains."

The room was made of marble with different fountains, some small, some large, filling the room. The music of the water was lulling as it fell from the spouts of the fountains to pools below. The ceiling was littered with skylights that let in the sun. Some of the skylights were made of colored glass, coloring the spots of light that danced around the room in purple, red, blue, green, and orange hues. Lexxa had heard of this room's grandeur but she had surely never seen it.

Lottos sat cross legged on the broad edge of one of the largest fountains and motioned for Lexxa to sit across from him. She did so quietly, still recovering from the feelings of awe and excitement that were coursing through her.

Lottos' sharp voice cut into her thought. "Padawan, are you listening?" Lexxa came back to reality with a snap. She hadn't even noticed that her master had started speaking.

"I'm sorry, Master. I got carried away. This is all so…new and…bewildering for me."

"Very well," Lottos waved a hand at her impatiently, "but it will do you good to pay attention next time."

"Yes, Master." Something in Lottos' eyes made Lexxa feel that her master was not at all pleased with her gap in attention. That same look made her feel uneasy but she shoved her brooding thoughts to the side to be considered at a later time. At the moment she wouldn't let herself get distracted.

"We will meditate together for the first time," Lottos continued as though nothing had happened, "and form the foundations of our bond into a real training bond." Lexxa felt Lottos' mind brush against hers and she let her shields fall and so did he. They sank into a meditation trance where one Force presents found the other. They pulled along their respective ends of the bond and tied it in the middle, securing and strengthening it.

By the time they pulled out, it was time for evening meal.


	8. Trouble

_TWO MONTHS LATER_

Some time had passed and Lexxa was beginning to settle into her life as a padawan. She went back to hang with Lenna and Gal whenever she could. Lenna would fuss over her hair ever time to the point of it being obnoxious. Lexxa now had, for the most part, abandoned her ponytail and singe braid hairstyle for the more popular hairstyle for padawan girls as a tight bun on the back of her head, the braid hanging neatly from behind her right ear. Lenna would ask why she didn't ware a ribbon interwoven with her braid, as so many female padawan chose to do. Lexxa would answer patiently every tine that she didn't have time to think of ribbons and that it really wasn't that important. Lenna would insist of redoing her bun every time that Lexxa came over, making it fancier. Lexxa didn't disappoint her. She didn't tell her friend that her master didn't approve of fancy style. She was "A Jedi, for Force sakes" and Jedi didn't "go around looking like prissy_ Alegarhi_." _Alegarh _was a Rushanian word, Rushania just happened to be Lexxa's and Lottos' home world and Lottos spoke Rushanian fluently, that was meant for people who were rich but had gained their money by trickery or other underhanded ways, usually political. Lenna wouldn't understand though so Lexxa didn't didn't bother explaining.

This was not however the only thing that Lexxa withheld from Lenna's knowledge. Her master had established a form of training called Conditioning. It included running, sprinting, high jumping, far jumping, flips, stretches, sit ups, push ups, pose drills, and other such elements. The warm up wasn't too hard and Lexxa always went through it without problems. However, when the rest of the session began Lexxa relied quit heavily on the Force to help her reach her master's standards. The only problem was that Lottos had ruled that she was not allowed to use the Force. She might not be able to use the Force at times, Lottos had told her, so it was important to be able to endure strenuous physical activity without its aid. Lexxa had obediently not reached for the Force after Lotto's order, yet, it was such an instinct, and it came so naturally to her, that she drew on it subconsciously, which earned her more trouble then she was prepared for…

FLASH BACK

She could do it. All she had to do was jump two meters in the air, land on the ledge, balance for five seconds, then pivot and back flip off. It wasn't that hard…and the floor was padded after all so even if she landed wrong it wouldn't hurt THAT much.

Lexxa bit her lip, contemplating the metal ledge in front of her. How many steps would she get for a running start? Four? Five? If she was able to use the Force there would be little trouble. But without the Force…

Lexxa glanced nervously back at her master. He was standing several feet away, waiting calmly for her to start. Lexxa looked away and focused on the metal pole ahead of her. She took a deep breath and ran forward. There was no effort to pull on the Force that she was aware of and yet when she jumped she could feel the Force buzzing around her, guiding her jump. She landed firmly on the ledge and counted a slow five then turned and flipped off the pole, tucking her legs in tightly to giver her body more rotation. She landed roughly on the matted floor but didn't stumble. The young padawan repressed a triumphant smile as she turned to face her master.

All happiness left her when she saw the look on Lotto's face.

"Now, Padawan, explain to me what you did wrong."

Lexxa tilted her head up slightly as she tried to go over her moves in her head, one by one. What could she have done wrong? "Well my landing was rough…." She started shakily.

"No," Lottos cut her off sharply. "The Force, Padawan. That is the third time today. I tell you not to use it and you do!"

Lexxa stared at him, bewildered. She didn't try to reach for the Force! During her jump? She remembered how cushioned and guided her jump had been. But she hadn't tried it just happened! "Oh… Master I don't try to do it! I swear!"

"Then try harder!"

Lexxa took a step back from him. "It just happens! I don't have any con-"

Lottos' next movement came so fast that it was practically imperishable and Lexxa didn't even realize what had happened until she felt the burning sensation on her cheek.

Lexxa stood there for several moments, thoughts rushing through her head at a pace with which she could not keep up. It couldn't have happened. Her master hadn't just hit her. The girl raised a hand to the stinging spot on her face. It was hot from the sudden impact of skin against skin. She swallowed hard, angry, hurt tears stinging he eye. Yet she refused o let them out. Not yet anyways, not where he could see her.

"I suppose we're done for today." With that simply reply to his padawans imploring look Lottos turned and left the room.

Several moments later Lexxa found herself in the Western Garden in one of her favorite spots. She sat cross legged under a tree and closed her eyes, preparing to meditate. She knew from the start that it would be no use. Her thought were too jumbled, running around in her mind at light speed so she couldn't catch a single one to force it out of her head.

Her master had always treated her respectfully and even amiably in the month that they had spent together. He was detached, yes. But as Jedi they were taught to be detached so she didn't mind it much. But this? What had she done to deserve this?

Lexxa gave up on meditation an opening her eyes allowed her gaze to travel across the lake near which she sat. The young padawan pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees, leaning her chin on them. The sun had almost set but some of it's orange glow still infiltrated the garden through the skylights, leaving golden light-bunnies and the still waters of the lake. No one was in sight and so the young padawan allowed herself to cry.

END FLASH BACK

Lenna continued to chatter, as she always did, giving Lexxa all the updates of her and Gal's lives as she continued to play with Lexxa's hair, braiding portions of her bun and leaving others straight. She babbled on about the upcoming Padawan Choosing day and Gal's eleventh Name Day, which was also coming up, and how they had to do something exciting that day. Just the three of them.

Lexxa listened to Lenna talk, satisfied to just keep to herself. She didn't notice that Gal was watching her.

Lena didn't realize that her friend was slightly quieter now then she use to be. Gal did.


	9. New Padawan

Lexxa wrinkled her nose contemptuously. The bantha meat that was being served looked undercooked and she swore that she could see bubbled there are here on its greasy surface. She turned away from the sight of it and continued on toward the end of the serving line and grabbed a flask of Naboo fruits. It wasn't much but better then that bantha meat Oh for Force sakes who eats meat for breakfast anyways? Undercooked or not.

Lexxa scanned the room with her eyes, looking for place to eat. A boy roughly her age with a small braid barely visible from behind his ear was sitting at an empty table in a far corner. She was sure she hadn't seen him before/ Not only in her time as a padawan but as an initiate. He might have been in a different clan…

She slid her rather empty tray, only the flask of fruit and a glass of blue milk had caught her fancy, across from him and swung her legs over the bench to take a seat. "Hi," she said cheerfully to the boy.

He looked up and she found herself looking into the most intense sky blue eyes that she had ever seen. "Hi," he said back. He sounded alright except for that bit of an accent that she detected when he spoke, but the way he looked at her made her strangely uncomfortable. He seemed to be trying to look through her. "I'm Anakin," he said finally.

"Nice to meet you, Anakin. I'm Lexxa. You can call me Lexi if you want…all my friends do that anyways."

He smiled brightly and his gaze wasn't as piercing anymore. 'I guess I past the test,' Lexxa thought. "I haven't seen you around," Lexxa continued as she stabbed some of her fruit. "Whose your master?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Master Jinn's former padawan."

"Oh I know him." Lexxa felt a sort of sinking sensation in her stomach. She had spoken several times to Master Jinn. He was one of the nicest masters she knew and hen she heard of his death on Naboo it made her quite sad. She felt a wave of sadness radiate from Anakin. So he knew master jinn too. Quite well, she supposed. However, that wasn't what had surprised. It was the boy's lack of shielding that had startled her. "What clan where you in, Anakin?" she asked curiously.

Anakin cocked his head to the side looking at her with genuine confusion. "Clan?"

Lexxa raised her eyebrows. "Yes…initiate clan."

"I-I…I was never in a clan" he declared, stabbing at the piece of meat on his plate.

Lexxa looked at him surprised. What did he mean he wasn't ever in a clan? "But everyone is put in a clan."

"Well I wasn't," Anakin snapped. "I just came here."

Lexxa stared at him. Did he mean that he just came to the temple? But that was impossible! The council would never allow some one that old train.

"I'm sorry I snapped," Anakin was saying. "I'm tired."

'Tired? It's only morning."

Anakin gave a very un-Jedi like snort. "Master Obi-Wan is a very morning peron and he thinks that since he is I should be one too."

Lexxa giggled. She was more or less familiar with Obi-Wan Kenobi. She hadn't seen him as much as she had Master Jinn but what she had seen of him she didn't necessarily like. Some called him the Sith Slayer. To her he was just a stuffed turkey who thought that he knew everything about everything. But she supposed it wouldn't be appropriate to tell Anakin what she thought of his master. So she asked, "If you're not from the temple then where are you from?" He had a very distanced accent. Once that she associated with the outer rim, so his answer didn't surprise her.

"Tatooine" he said shortly and another wave f sadness came crashing toward her from his Force presents. It was obviously a touchy subject for him because he quickly changed the subject. "Who's your master?"

"Ser-Gay Lottos. He's one of the few knights that have mastered Juyo so early in their career. He's now a practitioner of Vaapad!" Lexxa bragged. It wasn't nice, she knew, but some things couldn't be helped.

"Juyo?" Anakin asked puzzled. Then his eyes brightened, "That's a form of lightsaber combat isn't it?"

'Yea it is" Lexxa said. She was a bit worried for him. Anakin really had a LOT of catching up to do.

Galactic Affairs And Politics was one of those classes that could be extremely interesting or horribly boring. Lexxa was no in the mood for another discussion of the Trade Federation's attack on Naboo. It could have been exciting but when she tried to bring about the Trade Federation motives and try to discuss what had caused them to do what they did and if in any way they could be found, if not justified then, sympathetic she was promptly hushed and the class led away from this area of discussion. Lexxa was annoyed by this. Wasn't the objective of this kind of analysis to look at all sides of the story and not just one? It didn't make sense to her and Lexxa didn't like things that didn't make sense.

Master Polairs was about to start class when the door slid open revealing a blind padawan who looked slightly anxious. Lexxa recognized him instantly, most likely because of his blue eyes for she wasn't one to be good at recognitions, as Anakin…what was his last name?

"I think I'm supposed to be in this class…?" Anakin muttered, more to himself then to anyone else in the room.

'What's your name, padawan?"

"Anakin…Anakin Skywalker."

A murmur wisped through the classroom.

"Anakin Skywalker?...Master Kenobi's padawan?"

"They say that he's….ancient prophecy…"

"My master says…council lost their minds….Too old…"

"Slave boy…Tatoinne…"

"…The Hutts? What trash!"

Lexxa looked around feeling incredibly stupid. What was going on? Lenna would kill her for not being up to date with current events and gossip at the temple.

"Skywalker…yes…why don't you go sit behind Padawan Lysk over there."

Anakin looked her way and Lexxa gave him an encouraging smile. Anakin nodded at her and made his way over to the vacant seat behind her under the convoy of stares.

"Alright," Master Polairs continued as though there was no interruption, "today Yevin declared war on Naboo and set up a lightning quick invasion, cutting off all of Naboo's communications. Fix it."

Muffled groans of protest came from the back of the room as the padawan's fished out various datapads. Lexxa looked back at Anakin and was met by a wide eyed stare. "Are you serious?" he blurted.

Master Polairs who was setting up a projection looked up, startled. "About what, Padawan Skywalker?"

"About…about what you just said?"

Poorly canceled snickers erupted from different spots in the room. Lexxa didn't see what was so funny though. He was new here. How was he supposed to know they were doing a simulation? "It's a simulation, Anakin. We're going to be presented by some facts on the projectile and if you turn on your Class Media datapad you'll get the download from the main computer and it will simulate a negotiations session," Lexxa explained hurriedly.

Anakin blushed slightly. "Oh…I get it now."

More giggles.

"Quite down!" Polairs told the class pointedly. "Thank you, Padawan Lysk."

Lexxa nodded with a shy smile and turned her attention back to her datapad. The weekly negotiation simulations were her least favorite part of the class. She watched the arguments of both sides pass on the screen and scowled. Why couldn't Yevin just get away from Naboo. They were obviously wrong by attacking. Yes, Naboo had violated their Regional Space but simply because the ships computer had malfunctioned. It wasn't intentional.

Lexxa chewed on her lip as she looked into the "history" of hostility between Yavin and Naboo which was also simulated. Apparently the hostility began a month ago because the two did not agree upon prices of mutual exports and imports.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked back at Anakin. "What?"

"Is the hostility real or simulated too?"

Lexxa was slightly amused, "It's simulated. You'll get use to it." She turned back to her datapad before she would get in trouble.

Master Polairs stopped them five minutes before the bell would ring and checked the stats for the work done. Then he entered a few codes and the rating appeared at the front of the class as a projection.

Lexxa skimmed the list of twenty five names for her own and found it in its usual eleventh place. Typical. Anakin's name was at the bottom. She looked back at him as he shoved datapads into his bag. "Don't worry about it. You'll get the hang of it. I don't like the simulations ether," she offered.

"Thanks. I'll see you around I hope."

"Me too."


	10. Lenna, Meet Anakin

_A/N: First and foremost thank you **Adrianna** for your reveiw! Also Lexxa, Lenna, and Anakin are now 10. Enjoy! And comments are always loved :)_

* * *

_SEVERAL MONTHS LATER _

"No way!" Lexxa protested, shaking her head. "Anakin! I'm not doing it!"

"Oh come on," the other padawan urged pulling her arm.

Lexxa frowned worriedly. She always knew about Anakin's little pranks around the temple, he took special joy from bragging about them, but she had never participated in them. "Anakin, where are we going?"

"Down to the hanger. They have some of the coolest things down there…I think I know witch speeder Master Windu likes to use the most."

"And what exactly are you planning to do with it?"

Anakin stopped so suddenly that Lexxa almost ran into him. He stood still for a moment and then turned around slowly to face her. "You know…I don't know yet. But I'll figure something out once we get there." Anakin turned on his heal and started to jog down the corridor again.

Lexxa let out an exasperated huff and followed him. "And why do you need me for this?"

Anakin made a gesture that looked like a shrug. "It has to be something genius and you might help with that."

Lexxa rolled her eyes at him.

"Besides," Anakin continued nonchalantly, "I didn't know what to give you for your Naming Day anyway."

"So you've decided to get me in trouble so that my master can kill me?" Lexxa asked dryly. Lexxa waited for the angry retort but none ever came so she continued to follow Anakin to the hanger. She supposed it was another one of his ideas about "bringing excitement" into her life. When they reached the sliding door the two padawans stopped and probed the hanger with the Force. "All clear on my radar," Lexxa said.

Anakin nodded. "Same here. You know," he said after a pause, "you don't have to come with me you could just keep watch. It would be easier for you to make an excuse to get out of trouble or whatever."

Lexxa laughed," I don't think so, Skywalker. I'm coming with you." With that she pushed her way past Anakin and through the sliding door. Anakin watched her go and grinned contently.

* * *

When Lottos wasn't around Lexxa liked sitting curled up on the common room couch with her legs tucked up beneath her and a spare datapad in hand. She would stare at the night lights of Coruscantas they came on gradually as darkness fell over the city. She would then, after a while, turn her attention back to the datapad and write. Write about what she saw. She would watch an unusually colored speeder zoom past the large window and make up a back story for it and its driver. As a padawan she was learning how little free time she would have from now on and she grasped on to the time she did have, using the fact that Lottos was often times out late and she could freely use the view of the night city through the large common room window without being asked numerous nosy questions that would need answers that she wasn't comfortable giving her master. She was well aware that her imagination was overactive for a padawan. 

The night after her escapade with Anakin at the temple hanger she was enjoying herself in much the same way, this time the screen on her datapad showed a short poem that she had typed up at random, when the front door swished open and she heard Lottos' brisk footsteps coming toward the common room. She sat up quickly and shoving the offensive datapad into a pocket and protracted another one with some coarse work that she was suppose to be doing. She could tell that her master wasn't in a very agreeable mood.

The lights that Lexxa had turned down came on, making Lexxa blink several times to get adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room.

"Lexxa?" Lottos questioned uncertainly.

"Hi, Master," Lexxa responded brightly from her seat on the couch.

"Why are you in the dark, Padawan?"

"Well," Lexxa thought quickly for a good excuse. Finally coming up short she said hastily, "I just…sort of got carried away doing some course work and didn't really think of turning on the lights. Since the datapad glows-"

Lottos held up a hand to stop the girl's torrent of words. "Alright, alright. We'll be eating here today. I brought some food. Go wash up and be ready for dinner in ten minutes."

"Yes, Master."

He turned to go into the kitchen but them stopped and turned around to face Lexxa again. She looked up at him feeling a tight knot form in her stomach. She knew that whatever her master was going to say it wouldn't be something that she was going to like. The idea made her nervous and she pulled her shields up carefully.

"Lexxa did any of your friends mention a non-authorized trip to the temple hanger the other day?"

Lexxa swallowed hard and fought to keep her features placid. So Lottos had heard of Master Windu's "ride" that afternoon.

Lying was bad. Lying was against the code. But she had to lie. Or she could get in the most trouble of her life. Anakin would be in even more trouble.

"I might have heard some of the boys talking about it," Lexxa said, hopping that she looked convincing innocent. "But I don't suppose I know any of them. Why do you ask, Master?"

"Well," Lottos huffed, folding his arms over his chest, "it seems some one thought that it would be entertaining to tamper with the repulser lifts of the speeder that Master Windu uses most frequently. I can understand why they thought it was funny but it is absolutely inappropriate!"

Lexxa did her best not to giggle. Lottos eyed her sharply. "You would be well off not to mix with such a crowd, Padawan," Lottos said, suddenly looking up. His eye bore through her and their was an icy almost knowing note in his voice which made Lexxa curl in on herself slightly. There was a brush against her shields and she tensed, watching her master closely. "Yes, Master," she said softly.

Lottos looked away and when he looked back the chill seemed to surround him was gone. "Dinner in ten minutes," he said neutrally and strolled into the kitchen, all intenseness vanishing.

Lexxa made a dash for her room and shut the door behind her. She shook off the feeling of uneasiness. She had been genuinely unnerved and scared of what would happen if her master knew that she had been on the scene of the crime.

The bleeping of her commlink brought her back from her train of thought and she went to it eagerly, expecting it to be Anakin ready to gloat over the incident that he had worked so hard to set up. 'He won't like the fact that I didn't see it' she thought with amusement. However, it was not the hologram of Anakin that met her when she pushed the reception button but that of Gal.

"Hi, Gal."

"Lexi, long time no see…or hear." He returned with a half smile. "Look you got any time to jet down here tonight?"

Lexxa thought it over for a moment. "I'm about to have dinner but maybe after. Give me half an hour?"

Gal nodded. "Lexi I think Lenna has gone crazy," he declared finally.

Lexxa raised her eyebrows. "Crazy how?"

"You should see her," Gal seemed not to know if he should laugh or be concerned. "She's on the brink of hysteria."

Lexxa laughed outright. Gal had a tendency to overrate Lenna's excitability. "What in the Force happened, Gal?"

It was Gal's turn to look disbelieving. "You know Lenna would kill you if she knew that you forgot again, right?"

"Forgot what?"

"Padawan Choosing day ring a bell?"

"That was today?" Lexxa jumped up on the spot. "Did…?"

'Yes, yes," Gal said tiredly as though that had been the only thing that he had heard about today. "Lenna got chosen by a knight…Rue I think it was. Pink hair…anyways you might wanna come down here and see what you can do to calm her down. She should be ready for the next morning. Her braiding is at 1000 hours."

Lexxa smiled, giddily. "Tell her congrats for me in case I don't make it, alright?"

"Sure."

"Lexxa! Dinner!"

Lexxa jumped. Her master's sharpness often surprised her when she wasn't prepared. "Gal I-I have to go," she blurted in a rush. "See you later I hope. Bye!" She cut the connection and dashed from the room calling, "Coming, Master!" as she went.

* * *

Lexxa stood fidgeting nervously in the middle of the common room as she eyed her master warily. Lottos sat on the couch, his attention focused on the holovision. 

"Master?" Lexxa started.

"Hmm…"

"Can I go see my friends for a while?"

Lottos looked up at her and then at the chrono hung neatly in the corner. "It's almost 2100 hours, Padawan. I don't want you sneaking around the temple at night."

"I'll only go for half an hour, Master," Lexxa pleaded. "And Lenna was chosen today. I want to congratulate her in person."

"I think the younglings should be getting ready for bed by now."

Lexxa had half a mind to retort sharply that Lenna wasn't a youngling but an initiate yet she knew that that would do her absolutely no good. "But, Master…"

"Lexxa," Lotto's voice was suddenly sharp making all of Lexxa's words die on her lips. She took an involuntary step back, as she recoiled from the cold look in his eyes. "You will probably see her tomorrow. You can congratulate her then. Now why don't you go meditate before bed?"

It wasn't a question. The only sound that broke the ringing silence was the murmur of the holovision. Then came the obedient reply, "Yes, Master."

* * *

Morning break was the first opportunity during which Lexxa could get a chance to see Lenna but she figured that her friend was most likely still at the braiding ceremony so she waited until Midday Meal. 

Lexxa chose an empty table closer to the entrance of the Dinning hall so that she could spot Lenna if she came there to eat.

"What are you doing all the way over here?"

Lexxa jumped, Anakin's voice had startled her out of her thoughts. She whirled on him. "Don't do that again, Anakin."

"Ok," he shrugged looking confused and sitting down across from her.

"Don't you have anyone else to bother?" Lexxa asked giving an exaggerated sigh. Anakin sputtered, laughing, and almost choked on his mouthful of food. "I'm watching for my friend," Lexxa explained. "She was chosen the other day and I was hopping that she would come here for Midday Meal."

As though on cue a knight with bright pink hair entered with a perky blonde girl on her heals. Lexxa watched them as they got food then stood and waved to Lenna. She must have not seen her because she didn't respond. "What's 'er name?" Anakin asked through a mouthful.

"Lenna. Lenna Ji."

Anakin swallowed and standing up shouted across the hall, "Oye! Lenna! Lenna Ji! Come over here!"

That got Lenna's AND her master's attention. Not to mention the several padawans and knights in their vicinity that turned to look at Anakin with ether annoyance or curiosity. Lenna turned to ask her new master something and Lexxa yanked Anakin down. "Anakin what was that?"

"What?" he asked innocently. "I only called her over here."

Lexxa rolled her eyes. "You just attracted attention of the whole hall."

"Well you're waving didn't help did it?" Anakin snapped.

Lexxa looked taken aback by his sharpness. "Sorry."

Lenna bounced over to them, her new braid peeking out from behind her ear, hiding at times as it bobbed up and down in rhythm with her skipping. Lenna slid onto the bench next to Lexxa and the girls hugged, laughing giddily. "You look great, congrats."

Lenna smiled. "Thanks. I'm gonna need to find a ribbon for this," she indicated her new braid, "what color do you thin I should get? Pink? Blue? Silver?"

Lexxa laughed at Lenna's never ending excitement. "Wow then slow down. Now tell me honestly did you drive Gal crazy the other night?"

Lenna looked away guiltily. "I was so excited. I didn't think how he must feel. It's only him there now. I promised that we'd come to visit as much as possible but you know better then I do how often, or not for that matter, we have free time."

"He's a true Jedi. He'll be fine," Lexxa said as a lame attempt at comfort. She suddenly became aware that Anakin was watching them closely. "'Anakin," Lexxa said more calmly as she turned to him. "This is my friend Lenna. Lenna meet Anakin. He's a prankster like you've never seen."

"Nice to meet you."

"Same."

"Prankster you say?" Lenna questioned eagerly.

"Oh yes…" Lexxa and Anakin shared a genuine smile over Anakin's last pranks with Windu's speeder.

Lenna looked from one to the other then crossed her arms indignantly across her chest. "Tell me," she demanded. "Tell me what is so funny that you both are bursting with it?"/


	11. Things To Worry About

_A/N: Woohoo! New chapter! _**_GalaxyPink_**_: You're right OC/Anakin fics aren't very largely excepted b/c of all the A/P fans.Though my other Anakin/OC fic is doing just fine. I hope you continue to like it :)_

* * *

Lexxa hung upside-down on one of the ledges in one of the training rooms, her legs tightly secured on the durasteel pole. Her training session would be starting soon and she had quickly learned that with Lottos it was better to be five minutes early then one minute late. When she had commented on it to Anakin he had only laughed and welcomed her to "the club." 

She hummed softly to herself, staring up at the bright lightpanels. When was she finally going to get to have more lightsaber training? The question had been pestering at her mind for a long time and shunning it never worked no matter how much she reminded herself to be patient. For all the complaining that Anakin did at least his master let him 'saber train. Not that Lottos never conducted 'saber training lessons but the focus still seemed to be the "basics", as Lexxa referred to them, and it was starting to trouble her. And it certainly wasn't like she could openly discuss the subject with Lottos. He just seemed too distant. He was always preoccupied and she even felt nervous asking him anything, in the case that she might get a sharp answer.

She understood the concept of Student and Teacher, yet, she also understood the concept of the bond. A bond that she felt she was lacking with Lottos. Not that he was pushing her away mentally, surely she would have felt any attempts to escape forming a bond when they meditated together, but there just didn't seem to be any direct link from her to her master. It was there, the way she had felt it that day in the council chambers, but so fragile and in shadows. Not in any ways the strong bond that she had imagined. So why weren't they bonding like the other master/padawan teams. She asked Lenna about what she thought of the bond and all she got was an enthusiastic explanation and description of how "weird" but "cool" it felt. Lenna -- always so exuberant.

She had half the mind to open the subject with Anakin but she didn't dare approach him. She didn't dare ask him the question of how to fix this. Somehow, on some subconscious level, she knew that he would have no answer to give her.

The sound of the sliding door opening startled Lexxa, and she had to do a midair flip to land her fall safely. She shook her head a little to clear the dizziness that resulted from hanging upside-down for several minutes and then focused on Lottos who was regarding her carefully. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Force dampening cuffs on his belt and repressed a sigh. She hated those tings… A Jedi wasn't supposed to hate but then, she decided, it wasn't really hate. How could some one hate an object? How silly.

"We'll warm up in here," Lottos told her, skipping all pleasantries and getting straight to the point, such was his style. "Then we will go down to one of the other training rooms for 'saber training."

"Yes, Master." Lexxa allowed Lottos to secure the Force dampening cuffs around each of her writs and began her laps. She quickly got over her frustration about the Force dampeners. After all she would be able to 'saber train after this and as long as she could practice katas she would be alright.

After running for fifteen minutes Lottos had her do the standard warm up routine on the ledges. She jumped her way up to the highest ledge, then, balancing, performed a series of jump side kicks punctuated with round kicks. Then she would summersault her way down two levels and grabbing onto the ledge with one hand did a grip reversal with a punch in between before dropping to a lower ledge. She ran across the pole at full speed then flung herself up a level in a half rotation flip, hooking her legs around the ledge and letting herself hang upside-down for several seconds. She then pulled herself up and dropped almost to ground level to land on two parallel ledges. She used them as foot holds as she performed a simple hand-to-hand combat kata and then front flipped onto the matt.

Lottos nodded approvingly. 'Good," he told her. "You've got it down solid. Now maybe tomorrow we can try it without these…" He snapped off the Force dampening cuffs and hooked them back onto his belt. They headed for the training room, nether saying much. Lottos quite as usual and Lexxa unsure of what to say.

As they came closer the sound of raised voices disrupted the quite of the hallway. One of the training room doors stood ajar and the two strong voices carried out clearly. Lexxa recognized one as Anakin's.

"No I never said that, Padawan. You did."

"What? Do you even care, Master? Does my opinion count for ANYTHING?"

"Yes, Anakin, it does. But I-"

"Oh kriffing Sith! It's always all about you. It always has to be about you."

"What have I told you of respect, Anakin?"

"If you don't care then why should I?"

The training room door swooshed open and Anakin came tumbling out into the hall. His hair was messed up and the tunic was wrinkled. The boy's lightsaber hung haphazardly from his belt as though he had shoved it onto it instead of hooking it neatly. The damp strands of hair that fell into his eyes almost caused him to run into Lottos. "Watch where you are going, Padawan Skywalker!" Lottos yelled after him.

Lexxa reached out to her friend, feeling a disturbance in the Force around his signature. She felt the flicker in the Force, the thought that he had sent her. It was faint but she caught his meaning easily.

When she had time, he wanted to talk.

Katas would be hard to concentrate on today.


	12. Questions With No Answers

_**A/N:** This chapter took longer then it should have but the next one should be up soon :) Hope you enjoy. And thank you to _

**_GalaxyPink _**_for your reveiw._

* * *

Lexxa found Anakin in the Room Of A Thousand Fountains. He sat cross legged on the broad edge of one the larger fountains with his eyes closed. You could almost think that he was meditating, but Lexxa knew Anakin Skywalker too well to be fooled in such a way. She noticed how the warm light of the golden afternoon sun played in his hair and on his tanned skin. His lips were pursed lightly together and he wasn't noticing her presents. She liked to see him like this somehow, he almost looked at peace. 

She pushed a strand of her hair back from where it had stuck to her cheek, still damp from her hasty shower. She walked over to Anakin and sat next to him, wringing her hands nervously. "Anakin?" she prodded softly.

He opened his eyes and looked over at her, his eyes sad and pleading with her for an answer. An answer to the unspoken question which they both desperately wanted an answer to. An answer nether could give.

_Why?_

The word echoed through the Force between them, making Lexxa look away from those blue eyes that seemed to look right through her. Seeing everything that she wished to keep secret.

Anakin spoke first. "Do you think he cares?"

'I don't know.' But she couldn't tell him that. "Your master? I'm sure he does, Anakin. Masters care about their padawans."

He didn't say anything just looked at her.

"Do you care about him?" she prodded tentatively.

Anakin snorted. "If I didn't I wouldn't be hanging around here. I would go back to Mom."

Lexxa bit her lip. "What happened, Ani?" The endearing nickname came so easily to her that she didn't even think about if. Anakin looked surprised but didn't say anything. Then his gaze lost that emotion and she was looking into twin blue skies that were veiled by unseen clouds. A quite before the storm.

"They called me names. The other padawans I mean. They said I was trash and no good 'cause I was from the Outer Rim and because I had been a slave…"

He paused and Lexxa found that she still couldn't meet his eyes. Her heart was pounding, however. How dare they? What did they know about Anakin anyways? How dare they judge him when the only information they had were the scraps of their masters' conversations on which they had picked up during their eavesdropping?

She lifted her gaze to his face, still not looking him in the eyes, as the only prompting that she dared offer him. She felt like she had to let him talk and tell her what he wanted her to know. And if he kept anything back then that would be up to him and then maybe there would come a day some time later when he would tell her everything. But for the time being she would know what he wanted her to.

"Well I finally got sick of it and hit one of the punks. Gave him a nice hard punch. I didn't really wanna start a fight. Just wanted to get them all away from me. Well he called me another name, this one I didn't understand and before we knew it we were going at each other and then master Yoda walks in on us all..." He paused, rubbing a hand over his eyes in frustration. "Master Obi-Wan was really mad. I mean…I know I'm not allowed to start fights or anything but he wouldn't even listen to me when I tried to explain!" This time when he fell silent he didn't start talking again.

"Anakin, I'm sorry. They had no right to judge you…"

"Oh I don't care much anymore. You and Lenna are ok with me so I guess it doesn't matter if I'm not the most popular person around." He said it, but Lexxa wasn't sure how much he meant it. "I just don't get why Master hates me so much."

"He doesn't hate you, Anakin."

"Yes he does."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he never wanted me. He thinks I don't know, but I do. He only took me in because Master Qui-Gon made him promise to train me." He looked away from her and into the bubbling water. "Lexxa how does it feel?"

"How does what feel?"

"The bond? How does a real bond feel?"

"I don't know."


	13. Exhilarating

_**Shoutouts:** _**_Padawan Sydney Bristow _**_and _**_GalaxyPink_**_: Thanks for your replies! I'm glad you guys like the story :)_

* * *

A sunset during Coruscant's warm season found Lexxa and Lottos in the center of the council chamber receiving their first mission briefing. 

Lexxa could feel her excitement growing by the moment. Her very first mission! Anakin had been teasing her about how he had already been on two missions and she not even one. But all that would soon change. Of course nether of them would be going off-world until after they turned thirteen standard but a mission was better then being cooped up in the temple. Missions were what they trained for after all.

"…After the meeting you will accompany the senator to her daughter's concert on the other side of Coruscant. Once the senator has left the planet with her personal security you are to return to the temple unless instructed otherwise," Mace Windu was saying.

"Understood, Master Windu," Lottos replied crisply.

"Mission information is in the archives. You will leave tomorrow."

Lottos bowed curtly and Lexxa followed suit.

Once they left the council chambers after the custom "may the Force be with you" farewells, Lottos gave Lexxa a rare smile. It was amused and, unlike so many others, reached his eyes. "You're projecting rather loudly, Padawan. I'd thought your shielding would be better by now."

Lexxa knew it for the reprimand that it was and drew up her shields the best she could since her casual ones were obviously not strong enough to contain her excitement.

"I don't blame you," Lottos said casually. "It is your first mission after all but don't expect much to happen."

"I'm just happy to finally be doing something," Lexxa admitted.

Lottos looked at her steadily, studying her intently. Lexxa suddenly felt nervous. She hated being stared at and Lottos' scrutiny was even worse. When they came to an intersection Lottos stopped sharply, making Lexxa skid to a stop next to him.

Lottos reached inside his cloak and produced a metal cylinder which Lexxa recognized easily to be a 'saber hilt. Lottos held it out to her and she took it gingerly in both hands. The padawan studied the plain hilt for several moments and then lifted puzzled eyes to meet her master's. "What is it?"

Lottos' expression was a mixture of amusement and mild irritation. "Why, Padawan, it is a lightsaber." Lottos was positively smirking by then. "A Level 5 training lightsaber, to be exact. With a mission you'll need a weapon that actually functions to its full ability."

Lexxa smiled shyly. "Thank you, Master."

"I'm going to go pick up the briefing files at the archives and why don't you go do katas for a couple of hours. Just don't make me go hunting for you."

"Yes, Master."

"Oh and Lexxa…before you start set the power to training…yes that switch. I don't want you hurting yourself…or anyone else for that matter."

"Yes, Master. I'll be home in under two hours."

"Off with you then," Lottos said, tugging on her padawan braid lightly.

Lexxa nodded and darted off toward the training rooms. She chose the first private training room she came across and burst in, new 'saber in hand. Lexxa froze instantly at the sight of the two figures in the middle of the matt.

Anakin flashed Lexxa an amiable smile but Obi-Wan Kenobi just looked curious.

"I'm…I'm s-sorry, Master Kenobi," she murmured as she started backing out of the room hastily.

Kenobi's call halted her. "Wait, Padawan…er…"

"Lysk," she offered mildly.

"Padawan Lysk, yes. Since you are here I hope you wouldn't mind sparring with Anakin," Kenobi made a vague gesture toward his padawan, "It might be good for him to spar with some one his own age."

Lexxa glanced at Anakin but he kept his eyes averted. Her senses were suddenly on high alert. Lexxa was one quick to suspicion and something seemed off in the situation before her. Besides the last thing she needed was to spar in front of Master Kenobi. She didn't like the knight much not to mention that she considered him absolutely overrated.

'If he's so overrated then what are you afraid off?' a voice in the back of her mind challenged. She could feel her resolve harden in that moment as she decided that it would be better to comply to something that was much more an order then a request rather then trying to make an excuse to leave. "Of course, Master Kenobi," she responded as was expected of her and made her way out to the center of the room to stand facing Anakin with her new 'saber in hand.

Obi-Wan backed up to the wall to give the two padawans sparring space. Anakin backed several steps away from Lexxa and activated his 'saber, dropping back in an interform ready stance which many young padawans used while they were learning the principles off all the lightsaber forms before they narrowed their focus to one.

Lexxa regarded him carefully and dropped into the same stance. Anakin held his 'saber pointed forward and up in what could be ether a Djem So or a slightly off balance Juyo position. Lexxa switched her own 'saber to training power and holding it out vertically in front of her pressed the ignition button. A pale blue blade hissed to life. The standard issue hilt of the 'saber was thicker then her previous one and she felt slightly uncomfortable with it. It was a minor issue though and she was determined not to allow that detail to deter her. She started a steady predatory circle around Anakin and he followed her around for about half a rotation before springing forward at her, swinging his blade in a wide arch/

Lexxa brought her 'saber up to parry his attack with relative ease. She yielded a step to him however before ducking out of his way and spinning a lift kick at his 'saber hand. Anakin jerked his hand away and angled his 'saber down to try and knock her off balance but Lexxa was too quick for him that time. She sprang away nimbly and faced him once again from a several step distance. Anakin attacked and she found it slightly harder this time as he was starting to adapt to her fighting style. Anakin's own style was peculiar. When he attacked I was a strange variation of Djem So, its variant, Shian, and Juyo. However when Lexxa managed an offensive slash or thrust Anakin, as though instinctively used a Soresu block. No doubt the affect of his master's style rubbing off on him. Lexxa herself seemed to lean more toward Ataru. Though elements of Juyo could be spied there and here which she had picked up from her own master.

After several minutes Lexxa saw a chance for a counter attack and flipping over Anakin's head and brought her 'saber straight forward in a plunge for the back of his neck with a upward tilted angle. Anakin was fast to turn but he ended up loosing ground as he ducked away from the blow. Lexxa lunged out to lock their blades together. She forced Anakin's blade up until the two 'sabers were locked high above them. Anakin broke the 'saber lock with a jerk that sent his arm high. Using the ground space that was provided, Lexxa dropped to the ground, steadying herself with her left hand she used the Force help her pick up her legs and aim a sharp kick at Anakin's knees. He tried to jump away but one of his knee caps still jammed and he tumbled to the ground, changing the fall into a roll and coming up on one knee to meet Lexxa's follow up blow.

Anakin was getting tired after a while and Lexxa was suddenly grateful for all the conditioning training sessions that Lottos had put her through. But never the less she wasn't warmed up and one of her backflips was lopsided enough for Anakin's pivoting rotation to glance over her shoulder and the tip of his blade to barely reach her neck.

They stood there for a while in silence, staring at each other and breathing hard. "I guess I win," Anakin said finally, beaming.

"I'll be looking forward to that re-match," Lexxa shot back with an equal smile.

Obi-Wan chose that moment to come forward and interrupt the moment they were sharing. "Thank you for you time, Padawan Lysk."

"Anytime, Master Kenobi," Lexxa answered brightly. This time she was rather honest. Sparring with Anakin was…exhilarating.


	14. What The New Day Brings

Lexxa folded her arms across her chest as she went through her mental check list one last time. She stood in the middle of her room, looking the part of the model Jedi Padawan. She was in her formal Jedi attire that felt a little more rigid then her every day temple uniform. Her belt, fastened tightly around her waist, held all the necessary equipment. Her new lightsaber hung proudly on her left side, glinting slightly in the sunlight that streamed into the room. Her hair was pulled up into a tight neat bun on the back of her head, as custom for female padawans. The padawan braid was neatly re-braided and hung from behind her right ear.

Coming to the conclusion that everything was in order, Lexxa picked up her pack and walked briskly out of the room.

Lottos was finishing a conversation on the comm. unit when she appeared in the common room. "Ah you've made it, Padawan," Lottos teased, reaching out to pull lightly on her braid. The tug was slightly sharp and Lexxa held back a wince. "When are we going, Master?"

"Impatient as always. But it seems like the senator's shuttle will be landing in several moments so we should go now."

Lexxa nodded eagerly and followed Lottos out of their quarters and down the long hall that would take them to the turbolift. The two were silent for most of the trip except for Lottos telling Lexxa to always follow his lead and keep quite unless addressed directly The young padawan nodded. For all her independent nature, common sense was only too willing to remind her that she had no idea how to handle these situations yet, as simple as the mission may be.

Sedated for the time being by inexperience the girl's independence streaked stayed in the background of her existence, awaiting its time to show itself.

* * *

He was supposed to be having a day off, but no, the council had selected him as their messenger boy. What a great afternoon activity: rounding up younglings.

The rather disgruntled senior padawan made his way through the initiate's complex, collecting thirteen year old Jedi-wannabes. He knew he should, but it was rather hard to feel sorry for these children somehow. Their dreams would be shattered and lost forever. But then, as his master would say, if it is the way of the Force then it's for the best.

It wasn't too big a lot this time. Only five. He heard the number of rejects could go as high as fifteen at a time. The new generation of knights was lazy. Everyone wanted solo missions. No one wanted a little brat stuck to their side.

"Kin where are we going?" A girl with a sandy blond pony tail asked timidly.

"The council wishes to speak with the lot of you," he answered, looking around at the four sad faces that surrounded him. The girl who had spoke, Jayna he thought it was, had hung her head as soon as he turned to look at her. The Zabarak boy, Toyl, that stood next to her, was fidgeting nervously. The Twi'Lek twins, Lila and Alil, were whispering into each others ears incoherently. Pathetic and yet very touching, Kin thought darkly. 'Any of you know a kid by the name of Gal?"

Jayna nodded slightly.

"Where can I find him?"

Jayna shrugged. "I don't know that. I just know Gal."

Kin sighed in exasperation. He scanned the area for any morning-class ditchers. A girl with blond hair and a short padawan braid caught his eye. "Hey!" he called out.

The girl stopped and turned around. 'Great,' Kin thought, 'Padawan Ji. How did SHE ever get chosen. She's got more enthusiasm then all the younglings put together.'

"Me?" Lenna asked.

"Umm…yes. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Going to see friend."

"What friend might that be?"

"Gal."

Kin blinked. "Galahan Edel?"

Lenna nodded. "Yes. He should be out of class in five minutes and I though-"

"Could you get him for me," Kin interrupted her.

"Why?"

Kin almost rolled his eyes at her. "The council wants to see him."

Lenna suddenly looked very much alert. "Why does the council want to see him?"

The older padawan gave her a sad smile. "He is thirteen isn't he?"

* * *

Senator Phariichi was far from modest but she possessed an elegant air about her that many senators lost over time. The elegance quickly turned into arrogance and egotism. She was a slim human woman with graying chestnut locks that were bound into a tight bun on the top of her head. Her dark navy blue eyes were alert and piercingly sharp yet not intrusive. She was of medium height and wore a splendid ocean green gown, which outlined her hourglass figure in all accuracy.

The senator stepped out from her circle of body guards as the two Jedi approached her. "If I am not mistaken then you are the Jedi protectors that I had requested?" she inquired mildly, her flowing Etal accent clearly audible.

Lottos bowed to her and the padawan at his side followed suit promptly. "Milady, I am Jedi Knight Ser-Gay Lottos and this is my Padawan Learner Lexxa Lysk. We have been assigned to be your protectors during your stay on Coruscant."

"I am glad to have you here, Master Lottos. The letters I have been receiving are quite terrible!"

"If you do not mind, Milady, may I see one of these letters if you happen to have them on your person?"

"Oh certainly!" She reached into her purse and pulled out a basic datapad. Lottos took it from her carefully and turned it on. Lexxa raised her self on tiptoes so she could see the datapad as well.

…_You are an abomination. A perfect example of corruption and all that is evil in this galaxy. A cell out just like all before you. Your family line has been tainted with this crime of foolishness that you flaunt. All the Phariichis are sithspawn arrogant unwholesome trash that is radical in their selfishness. This is your curse and your curse and on the fourteenth standard day of the sixth standard month the youngest of your line will meat her fate… _

Lottos turned off the datapad and handed it back to the senator. "They are planning to act today then. Are you the youngest of the Phariichi line?"

Senator Phariichi nodded quickly. "My brother is a year older then myself. He has no children and in fact isn't even married. No one of my extended family carries the name ether."

"What of your daughter?"

"Oh no, Master Jedi, she carries the name of her departed father, Avilan. Now if you will follow me please. I must attend to a senatorial meeting. After that we will catch a shuttle to other side of Coruscant. I promised my daughter that I would attend her concert tonight."

As the two Jedi followed the dignified senator to her private transport Lottos said quietly, so that only Lexxa could hear, "Keep your senses alert for trouble, Padawan. I have a fishy feeling about all of this."


	15. Another State Of Consciousness

The senatorial committee which Lexxa and Lottos attended with Senator Phariichi was rather dull in the eyes of the young padawan and she could barely keep from fidgeting. Several long hours were spent in discussing trade rout disputes and possible illegal activities along said routs. Though Lexxa was well acquainted with the political jargon due to Temple classes she found the talk monotonous and rather confusing at times. The senators seemed to go around the same details over and over again as though they could never completely agree on anything to the extent of closing the subject.

Lexxa had risked several glances at her master but Lottos had kept his expression carefully blank through the whole afternoon. Finally the committee was adjourned, though Lexxa couldn't quite understand the conclusion to which the senators had come, and the Jedi escorted the senator back to her rooms at the Grand Coruscant Hotel.

As they waited for the senator to prepare for the concert Lottos took to examining more of the mission's details on his datapad. Lexxa noticed the frown that was slowly creeping over his face.

"Is something wrong, Master?"

Lottos looked up sharply but his gaze was distracted. "Amur," he said.

"What?"

"Club Amur that's where the concert is," Lottos answered, now much more aware. "It's a place where I would prefer not to take you at such a young age. It promises to be a wild partly tonight." Lottos was obviously displeased.

"Isn't Club Amur an upper class club?" Lexxa asked carefully.

"Yes," Lottos replied, his lips twitching in disgust. "But there's enough scum at those places despite its upper level status. Money and position doesn't always mean class, Padawan. You'll see in time that the rich of the galaxy are often lower level scum in pretty rappers."

Lexxa nodded and chewed on her lip as she thought over her master's words. The galaxy sure didn't seem like a friendly place. But then that's what the Jedi were for. To keep peace and justice in the galaxy. Of course the Jedi couldn't fix every wrong but they do their best. In Lexxa's mind the Jedi were the definition of good in the galaxy. They followed the Will of the Force and the Light Side, at that. They were selfless and put the needs of others above their own. This is what she had been taught since she could remember.

Not that the Order was perfect. She had once believed it to be. Now she thought that it was nearly close to perfect. Since when had she had a change of heart, even so slight? That wasn't a question she could answer. Bu she had a distinct feeling that Anakin had something to do with it. Anakin was different from anyone else in the Order, if only because of his late start in training. It could be that she had grown up and had lost some of her innocents. Or it could be that Anakin was a sort of window to what was wrong with the Order. As ridiculous as that theory sounded to her she couldn't shake the feeling that Anakin had more affect on her thoughts then she knew.

* * *

Air traffic over Club Amur was thick and it took several minutes for the senator's pilot to finally find a decent docking spot near the entrance of the club. Lexxa gapped at the bright neon lights that flashed from all sides of the club, blue, pink, red, purple, and so many other dazzling hues. A thick puff of white smoke greeted the Jedi and Senator Phariichi as they entered the club-tight atmosphere.

Lottos grabbed Lexxa sharply by the shoulder making her face him. "Padawan, I want all your senses alert and I need you to pay attention. This is all mind rotting junk so focus on the job at hand."

"Yes, Master." Lexxa realized that she had to yell to be heard over the pulsating music.

Senator Phariichi led them to the back of the club where a sort of porch was raised above the dance floor and was full of small tables with sparkling glasses and flittering candles. The senator settled herself at one of the tables in clear view of the stage and the Jedi took up posts on ether side of her.

Several moments later the music stopped and the lights were toned down as a single name, spelled out in red letters, flashed on the stage light panels. It read: ISABELLA.

A thunder of cheers echoed through the room as a beautiful human girl, with a striking resemblance to Senator Phariichi, floated gracefully on stage and began to sing in the lilting Etal language. 'That must be the senator's daughter,' Lexxa concluded.

"Lexxa?"

Lexxa turned to look at her master. "Yes, Master?"

"I want you to go down into the crowd and look for anything you might think to be suspicious. If you feel like something is off or out of place contact me immediately through out bond or on your commlink."

"Yes, Master."

Lottos nodded her off and the padawan made her way into the dancing crowd.

* * *

It wasn't that Lexxa was ignorant to the existence of music, culture classes at the Temple included music in their programs, bur Force knows she had never been introduces to this kind of music. Or this kind of party.

It came to mind that the initiates and young padawans of the Temple were rather sheltered until deemed ready to be sent out into the galaxy, along with their masters of course. They were only introduced to selected mature subjects, so the dancing had been a rather harsh wake up call. But not one that she didn't enjoy.

Lottos had given her a simple instruction: keep your senses open and look for trouble. Looking for trouble would mean actually observing, that she did eagerly, studying the varied moves of different species. Her senses were at first almost overloaded when she had opened them up fully to her surroundings. But once she was able to control the input she was getting with her Force perceptions the feeling started to become a pleasant one, sweeping her up in its current.

What she did find, though, was that it could get increasingly difficult to keep her all around concentration. The flowing music and the lights that moved in tandem with the rhythm were enchanting and threatened to whisk her away to another state of consciousness.


	16. Mission Complications

The uneasiness came and went so quickly that Lexxa wasn't sure if it had been there at all. She sank into the Force briefly, trying to reach for the disturbance but it was gone. 'I must have imagined it,' she decided finally as she continued to push herself through the crowd toward the front of the dance floor.

The plan had come to her out of no where and she wasn't sure what was her purpose for carrying out her idea, especially since she knew full well she was going beyond her mandate, but something pulled her forward.

There was a tingling in the Force, though not quite of danger, and she followed the feeling with all the curiosity of a twelve year old.

She had made it to the backstage entrance without problems but when she spotted the guards her mind started to race. Using a mind trick came to mind first but she was afraid that she was not very good at those quite yet, not to mention that Lottos would kill her is he ever found out. So she would have to prove her point using…different methods.

"Hey, do you have a backstage pass?" One of the guards demanded.

"No, sir," Lexxa replied as evenly as she could. "However, I am a Jedi padawan assigned to the protection of Senator Phariichi and her daughter."

The guards exchanged looks, eyed the lightsaber that she made sure was plainly visible on her belt, and exchanged a few brief words. "Miss Isabella said that only her mother would need protection," the guard said after a minute of conference with his partner.

"I'm aware of that, however, it would be safer for Miss Isabella if she had protection as well. If these radicals are targeting her mother then they could easily want to eliminate her as well."

The guards traded looks and then stepped apart to grant the padawan entrance. "If you say so, Jedi."

Lexxa breathed a sigh of relief.

Lexxa waited backstage for ten or so minutes before Isabella came backstage for her break. She had hid in a tight hall between a maintenance room and a dressing room, not wanting to be spotted and when Isabella came down the main corridor toward the dressing room, Lexxa stepped out of her corner in a swift motion that startled the young pop star into a squeal.

"I'm sorry," Lexxa apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Who are you and how did you get back here?" Isabella asked, looking around for her security.

"Oh…I'm Jedi Padawan Lexxa Lysk. My master and I were assigned to protect your mother."

"Alright, well, what do you want from me? An autograph?"

Lexxa bit her lip. The problem was that she had no idea why she was here in the first place. "Just wanted to ask you some questions," Lexxa tried.

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Great, an interrogation is really what I need at the moment." She pushed the door of the dressing room open and waved Lexxa through. "You just as might come in."

"You have any idea as to who is trying to do this to your mother?"

"What kill her you mean?"

Lexxa nodded.

"Gods," Isabella muttered as she picked up her hairbrush and started to comb out her hair. "Mom's a senator. She has more enemies then I can count. She has more people wanting her head then I have man who want to take advantage of me. Just none of them ever really have the guts to do it. God knows how many more she's made since we haven't seen each other. I've been singing back on Ital lately and mom's been working in the core."

"And you didn't go to her when you heard about the letters?"

"I was busy all month," Isabella shrugged, turning away from the mirror to face Lexxa. "It's not like she's been getting then for longer then that. We haven't talked since really."

"You don't seem too worried about you mother," Lexxa stated bluntly.

Isabella laughed. "Mom has been taking care of herself since my father got himself killed while trying to save his lover from a burning building. I was only three. I don't see why mom wants me to keep his last name. So," Isabella smiled looking pleased with herself, " slightly over a month ago I changed my last name to Phariichi."

It took several moments for Isabella's words to sink in. When they did Lexxa asked in a rushed tone, "Does anyone know about this?"

"Yea, practically everyone who knows me at all, except for my mom for whatever reason. Well I never told her ether she would freak out if—What are you doing?"

Lexxa was scrambling to unhook her commlink. Lottos would want to know this immediately. But before she could find Lottos' frequency the Force surged darkly, screaming a warning. There was an explosive BANG from the main club floor and then the sound of a window shattering in a nearby room. Lexxa grabbed Isabella's hand and pulled her toward the door.

"Where are we going?" the young pop star asked, her eyes wide.

"We've got to get out of here."


	17. Mission Complete

Lottos had only a second's warning before the explosion rang out through the club. The Jedi knocked the senator out of her seat and cover her as they tumbled to the floor. Lottos felt the hot shock wave rush over him and had to us the Force to keep himself rooted to the spot, the senator safely pined beneath him.

After waiting for a few moments in case of a second explosion Lottos stood, pulling the senator up with him, and surveyed the damage. Broken glass littered the floor, the large lights that hung overlooking the dance floor were shorting out, sending sparks flying in all directions. People were pulling themselves from underneath overturned tables and fallen sound and lighting equipment. 'Where has that padawan of mine gotten to,' was one of Lottos' first organized thoughts. "Senator, are you alright?"

"Yes, Master Jedi," Senator Phariichi answered, slightly dazed. "I think it is about time we left…"

"I agree." Lottos was reaching for his commlink when said device broke out into a series of beeps.

* * *

"Hey where are we going?" Isabella demanded as Lexxa pulled her toward the door only to pull her against the wall when blaster fire was heard in the hallway.

"We need to get out…do you know a back exist?"

"Oh…well…I think there's one some way down the hall."

A mild explosion was heard outside in the hall and Isabella shrieked, grabbing onto Lexxa. "We can't go out there!"

"Well we can't stay here ether."

"I hope you know what you're, Jedi."

"Lexxa. My name's Lexxa," the padawan told Isabella automatically. Lexxa probed the other side of the door with the Force. She sensed that someone was close by but she couldn't quite tell what their intent was. The Force was thick with panic and it was making Lexxa nervous. She took a breath before throwing open the door and dragging Isabella our after her.

The two girls ran into the hall, skidding among the debris of broken lightpanels and hair and make up accessories. Bodies of several security guards lay on the floor, blood oozing from blaster wounds. Scorch marks were evident on the walls in haphazard places.

The hall was strangely quite and still, the only noise coming from the main club area, muffled by the duracrete walls. Lexxa backed up against the wall, keeping Isabella behind her. She took out her lightsaber and tried to locate the being whom she had sensed earlier. After several minutes of anxious waiting Lexxa waved to Isabella to follow her.

They had gone only several steps, Lexxa feeling uneasy the whole time as though they were being followed, before a voice spoke up clearly behind them. "Hello, Beautiful."

Lexxa whirled and Isabella let out a scream. The padawan jumped forward igniting her blue blade. Lexxa held the blade horizontally in front of her and Isabella. The blaster bolt bounced off of her lightsaber and went askew, leaving another scorch mark on one of the walls.

"Run!" Lexxa shouted desperately as she blocked another bolt at close range. Isabella, however, seemed glued to the spot, her eyes wide with fear. "Run!" Lexxa repeated pushing her forward.

Isabella finally snapped out of her trance and started to sprint down the hall. Lexxa followed her, moving backwards so she could deflect the blaster fire.

"Here!" Isabella called, stopping in front of a fork and taking off at a run down the right corridor. Lexxa ducked into the passage after her and in less then a minute the two found themselves in one of the back alleys leading to the club. Isabella was about to take off again but Lexxa stopped her abruptly. "We should hide."

"What! No! Run! I'm getting out of here!"

"No, you're not," Lexxa hissed, pulling Isabella behind one of the trash bag piles.

"Ahg why does it stink do much?"

Lexxa rolled her eyes. "It's trash." She unclipped her commlink and put in Lottos' frequency code. A scaled hologram of her master came up. He didn't look happy.

"Padawan, where are you?"

"Master, I'm in the back alley behind the club. You should come quick…there's…trouble."

"Back alley? What in the Force-"

"Master, there's no time. I'll explain later." Lexxa shut off her commlink and re-hooked it to her belt.

"Is that your master?"

A nod.

"He's cute."

Lexxa didn't have a time for a retort for the door to the alley was swung open and heavy footfalls echoed in the closed up area. "Come out, Beautiful," called a man's husky voice. "I know you're out here somewhere."

Lexxa glanced at Isabella who was curled up against the wall, pale and wide eyed. She then turned her attention to the man walking around the small space. She heard the rustle of trash bags on the other side of the alley that was then followed by several explicit curses.

"Come one, Beautiful. You can't hide from me forever."

Lexxa heard the door open and slam shut again. Then more footsteps. Lexxa gripped her lightsaber hilt, trying not to panic. They would be found soon, she was sure. Hopefully her master would arrive earlier.

"Yij!" called the man who had just joined them.

"Brother?"

"What are you doing?"

"She's somewhere here, Yitbog. I know it."

"Then shut up and listen for some sound."

"There's a kid with her…with a lightsaber…boy I'm glad you're here!"

"Be quite, you fool. A kid you say? An apprentice. I can handle an apprentice."

Then everything went quite. Lexxa tensed and pulled the Force around her. She needed to distract them. The padawan reached out with the Force and probed the different objects around the alley looking for something suitable to lift and throw with the Force. Her concentration was broken by a squeaking at her feet. Lexxa looked down and clapped a hand over her moth as she spied the large rat scampering out of one of the trash bags.

Not good.

Lexxa turned to Isabella but it was too late. Isabella had seen the rat and jumped up with a terrified scream, making the trash bag pile they had been crouching behind tumble into a scattered heap.

There were calls of, "There!" and, "Get them!" Lexxa activated her lightsaber and jumped forward to meet the coming attack. She let the Force guide her as she deflected blaster fire. She heard Isabella's desperate call for help and a throaty, "I have you now, Beautiful," but she was too preoccupied with keeping herself alive as the fire started coming from both directions.

Suddenly there was the sound of an activating lightsaber and Lexxa watched in horror as the man shooting at her crumpled to the ground, beheaded.

"NO! Yit!"

Lexxa whirled around in the direction of the choked call. She felt a familiar presents at her side. Lottos. Lexxa felt herself calm. Her master was here…he would be able to handle this.

The other man – Yij was it? – was clutching Isabella in a bear hold, a blaster pressed to her temple. "Take another step, Jedi, and I kill her!" he shouted at Lottos, his voice shook with panic and desperation. Lexxa saw his eyes flicker to the body of his fallen brother only to return to Lottos in an instant.

"You will let her go," Lottos said calmly, waving his hand.

Yij's eyes clouded over and he let go of Isabella. "I will let her go," he said in a daze.

Isabella stumbled forward and Lottos took several steps to meet her. As soon as Lottos had reached her the young pop star fainted, falling into Lottos' arms. The Jedi knight looked at her for a moment and then lifted her into his arms. He turned to Lexxa then, his expression not betraying a single feeling or thought. "I'll take Isabella to the speeder where her mother is waiting. You take…this," he threw Yij a dirty look, "up front. The police will take care of him from there. Then come find me."

"Yes, Master." Lexxa walked to the side of the young man, who was now eyeing Lottos with a hatred that was palpable. Lexxa held her lightsaber to his neck and herded him back into the club. As they passed the body of the other bounty hunter she heard Yij murmur, "I'm sorry, Brother. You were right."

* * *

"You disobeyed an order!"

Lexxa and Lottos were in their quarters at the senator's suit. Lexxa sat on the bed and Lottos towered over her.

"But, Master, you told me to keep my eyes open for trouble," Lexxa protested desperately.

"I asked you to go into the crowd not backstage."

"It was the Force, Master. It was trying to show me something and I followed it."

"You went back stage to interrogate a person you had no right to interrogate."

Lexxa hung her head. So Lottos had spoken to Isabella. "But I saved her. I help catch the attacker. Isn't that important?"

"Our mission was to protect the senator not to start an investigation."

"But…" Lexxa didn't know what to say. Her protests died on her lips. 'Master won't listen anyways,' she decided and began to bite her lip as she awaited her punishment.

Lottos was silent for a long time. He then squatted in front of her and put a hand under the girl's chin. "Look at me, Padawan."

Lexxa looked up timidly.

"You did a good job tonight. I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to the Force. Because you should. Next time when you have such a dilemma contact me first, though. You'll make one hell of a knight one day. But you need to learn to follow orders…my orders at least. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Now get some sleep." He stood then and walked out of the room, leaving Lexxa to her thoughts.


	18. Goodbyes

The next morning Lexxa and Lottos took Senator Phariichi to the space port and saw her off with her security. Lottos spoke to Coruscant's Law enforcement to gain information on the two men that had tried to attack the senator's daughter.

On hearing that the man they had brought in was a politician, more specifically the governor of the state Nickenston on Erreden, a small Mid Rim world with terrible climate, Lottos only shook his head. "Politicians," he told Lexxa later as they were seated on the transport that would take them back to the temple, "should never be trusted, Padawan."

After a shower and a rushed snack master and padawan headed for the council chamber for their mission debriefing.

Lexxa jumped when her commlink went off in a series of beeps as she and her master walked briskly up one of the temple's numerous staircases. "Padawan Lysk."

"Hey, Lexi. Are you back from your mission?" the scaled image of Lenna asked with a smile.

Lexxa frowned, detecting something wrong in Lenna's attitude. Maybe it was the absence of her perkiness. "Yes. I'm headed for the mission debriefing. Is something wrong?"

"Well…can you meet me in the Initiates Garden in an hour or so?"

"I'll try. The usual spot?"

"Yes."

With that Lexxa clicked off her commlink and stared at it as though demanding an answer.

"Turn that thing to silent," Lottos snapped, bringing Lexxa out of her thoughts. "I don't want your little friends calling while we are with the council."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

Lexxa had been rather surprised at the ease with which Lottos allowed her to go to the initiates wing right after the de-briefing but that perplexing occurrence was pushed to the back of her mind as she made her way through the initiates' garden to where Lenna and Gal where sitting, waiting for her. Both were speaking in hushed voices and both looked quite miserable.

"What's up?" Lexxa asked, sitting down cross legged in front of her friends.

"There's bad news," Gal started in a controlled tone.

Lenna wasn't as calm about the situation, however. "Bad news? This isn't bad news, Gal. Extra training sessions is bad news. This…" she trailed off finding no word that would do the situation justice.

"Lexi, I'm….I'm going to the AgriCorps."

Lenna bit her lip hard and looked down. Lexxa stared at Gal with wide, disbelieving eyes. "No….No they can't do that! They…I'll go to the council!"

"And do what?" Gal snapped. Lexxa stopped talking and Lenna looked up from her examination of the grass at Gal's raw tone.

"I…I don't know but they can't kick you out. You're great at Force Use and blast you're probably the most Jedi-like person of our clan. Former clan…whatever."

"Lexi, I can't…I can barely hold a lightsaber properly not to mention actually doing the katas. No matter how hard I tried I was always the worst in our clan at 'saber forms. And hand-to-hand was always a nightmare as well."

"But not all Jedi-"

"I'm no healer. Nether are you or Lenna or most of the people we know. It's not enough to be good at Force Use to be a healer apprentice."

"So what now?"

Gal shook his head. "Nothing. I'm leaving tomorrow at 10:00 hours sharp."

Lexxa looked down at her hands. She bit her lip and started to fidget with the edges of her tunic. Lenna looked at Gal then at Lexxa, green eyes pleading for someone to say that there was a way out. She then got up and ran from the garden, from the initiates' wing, from the inevitable truth.

* * *

Two Jedi Padawans and a Jedi Initiate stood on one of the temple's landing pads on a chilly Atunda morning waiting for the transport that would take five Jedi hopefuls away from their dreams.

Lexxa, Lenna, and Gal had talked for a while but there wasn't much to say and so they stood silently as the other initiates arrived on the platform, herded there by a senior padawan. "Hey, Kid!" he called to Gal. "Are you Initiate Edel?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Don't go anywhere…we've been looking for you."

A roar of engines called everyone's attention to the sky where a large transport was weaving its way clumsily through the traffic lanes to land several meters away from the group.

"So this is it I suppose," Gal said calmly.

Lexxa nodded and stepped toward Gal to hug him tightly. "Will you write?" she asked hopefully.

"If I can." Gal glanced nervously at the other four teens being herded into the transport. "Lenna?" he asked softly.

The blonde ran forward, throwing her arms around Gal and nearly knocking him over.

"Always enthusiastic," he muttered and returned the hug.

"I'll miss you," Lenna said, her words muffled as she buried her face in Gal's shoulder.

"I'll miss you too."

"I don't want you to go."

"As Jedi we both need to accept this, Lenna. If you can't fix it you have to stand it."

Lenna stepped away from him, blinking away the first traces of tears, and nodded mutely. After a moments pause Lenna broke the silence once again. "Gal, I think I should tell you…I-" She never got to finish as their moment was interrupted by the senior padawan who came to take Gal away to the transport.

Lenna and Lexxa watched the ship rise steadily into the air, waving their goodbyes. After rising for some hundred meters the cruiser engaged its boosters and shot up through the atmosphere.

"What were you going to tell him?" Lexxa asked, looking at Lenna curiously.

The blonde shook her head. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."


	19. Choosing Forms

_ONE YEAR LATER_

The two combatants danced back and forth across the padded floor of the training room, lightsabers moving fast enough to be nothing but blurs. There was a pause as the padawan flipped backwards, putting distance between herself and her master. The young knight waited, circling to the left. The padawan went right, holding her 'saber tightly in one hand. With a spinning pivot she advanced forward again, raising her weapon above her head as she aimed for a chest sweep. The knight blocked her move and allowed her a few more attacks before deciding that this game was at an end. With three smooth, consecutive strikes he overpowered his young padawan and forced the lightsaber out of her hands.

The pair stood for a moment, facing each other with the knight's weapon at the padawan's neck. Then the knight's blue blade disappeared and the padawan bent down hurriedly to pick up her weapon.

"Better," Lottos said, returning his weapon to his belt.

"Thank you, Master," Lexxa replied, a little breathless.

"Now I said we would choose your form today," Lottos continued, as he strolled to the center of the floor.

Lexxa nodded and followed Lottos eagerly.

"You are, by tradition, allowed to choose your form on your own. However some advice never hurt."

Lexxa didn't say anything, realizing that it would be foolish and pointless to protest Lottos' interference. After all she didn't mind his advice. It certainly wouldn't hurt.

Lottos never really waited for her answer before continuing. "Shii Cho. Younglings learn this form. You know its basics so if were inclined to it you would be using it. I don't see that in you though. You like your lightsaber held vertically and not horizontally as the form teaches. Now as for Makashi. Show me a Form II Flourish."

Lexxa unclipped her 'saber and activating it made a butterfly in the air with the blade.

"Fluidity and preciseness. Of course this comes with practice however I know you padawan. You are much more attracted to the mire blunt side of combat. As, in fact, am I. Not to mention the amount of focus this form requires and focus isn't exactly your strong suit."

Lexxa blushed and ducked her head.

"Also Makashi is an old fashioned form," Lottos continued undeterred. "It was mostly designed for lightsaber to lightsaber combat. Against wide range weapons that we are up against today the form is disadvantageous. Soresu." Lottos smiled a little as thought he was about to say something he knew he shouldn't but didn't really care. "Now don't tell your little friend, Skywalker I think it is, or I might get into trouble with Kenobi and his council buddies but I've pet named Form III the Sissy Form."

Lexxa struggled not to laugh as she remembered Anakin's imitations of a frustrated Obi-Wan stressing the importance of defense in combat.

"Honestly, Padawan, if you have to use this style use Djem-So. Not Shian. Shian was made by Soresu practitioners who wanted to be individualistic and gave the form a new name while making few changes. That's why it's a variant. Now form V. Djem-So is a good form. However it is slightly too accentuated on blade-to-blade combat and it requires more strength. Were you a boy I would have suggested this form. However seeing as how you aren't," Lottos gave Lexxa's braid a small tug, "I think you'll be better off at applying your agility rather then strength."

"What about Niman?" Lexxa asked curiously, rather enjoying her master's look on the forms, harsh and critical though it was.

"Padawan, I want you to choose a form not jump around between all of them."

Lexxa giggled a little. She could swear that had Lottos not been a Jedi he would have certainly been rolling his eyes. She could see his point here, however. Niman's attempt to balance different aspects of all the forms, though well intentioned, was ultimately disappointingly ineffective.

"So I leave you with the choice between Ataru and Juyo. Ataru because you are naturally inclined to it, you were doing those flips from the moment I put a 'saber in your hands, and Juyo for the obvious reason that it is my mastered form."

Lexxa looked down at her lightsaber hilt and tuned it around several times before finally looking back up at Lottos. "I like Ataru," she said seriously.

Lottos nodded. "I expected that. Well we will begin with Ataru then. Nothing is official until your thirteenth Naming Day next week so nothing is set in stone."

Lexxa nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Alright, you are dismissed." The pair bowed formally to each other and picking up their things left the training room.

* * *

Lexxa met Anakin and Lenna for Midday Meal in the dinning hall and sat down next to Lenna and across from Anakin.

"Did you choose your form today?" Anakin asked.

Lexxa nodded. "Ataru," she said simply before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Anakin groaned in frustration. "My master freaked out when I told him I wanted to do Ataru at first. He came up with all the possible reasons for why I shouldn't do. If he could he probably would have ordered me not to. So much for being able to choose our own form. Is it me or do Jedi tend to be control freaks?"

Lexxa and Lenna giggled. "Only certain Jedi," Lenna said. "My master never had a problem with the choice I made."

"Well I guess Master Rue wouldn't mind would she? Really, someone who does Shii Cho as their form…" Anakin shrugged. "What did you choose again by the way?"

"Niman."

Lexxa and Anakin looked at each other and said together, "Lack of concentration."

"Hey!" Lenna protested. "I honestly don't see what's wrong with mixing things up a little."

"My master says it's ineffective," Lexxa commented.

Anakin shrugged. "I think Master Obi-Wan would have rather me choose Niman then what I wanted."

"Why did you want Ataru in the first place? It doesn't fit you."

"I was able to pry out of Obi-Wan some information concerning Master Qui-Gon. One of which was his lightsaber form."

"Oh yea…Master Jinn did use Ataru didn't he?" Lenna said, while pocking at the various fruit on her plate.

There was a silence for a moment before Lexxa finally asked, "So what did you end up choosing?"

"Well," Anakin said matter-of-factly, preoccupied with his food. "After I ditched the notion of Ataru I decided that I could try Juyo. After about a half out debate and lecture on the 'importance of defense' we took a break and sparred. Finally I came to an agreement with Master Obi-Wan that I would do Djem-So. I'm actually happy with that choice. Master tried to get me to do Shian but I said that that was pushing it."

Lexxa laughed. "Master Kenobi really wanted you to do Soresu didn't he?"

Anakin had already stuffed too much food in his mouth to talk so he merely nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

A forceful, urgent brush against her mental shields woke Lexxa from her deep sleep. She shot up into a sitting position as reflex and training took over. Something was wrong. Her hand reached out to call her 'saber to her but someone caught her wrist into a firm grip. Her blurry, half-asleep mind was slow to catch up and the padawan had already chambered for a kick when a familiar presents overwhelmed her mind and she froze, blinking dumbly into the darkness of the room.

"It's only me, Padawan," Lottos' voice was its usual mixture of annoyance and amusement.

"You scared me, Master."

"A Jedi knows no fear," Lottos drawled noncommittally.

"Only acceptance," Lexxa finished out of habit.

"Yes…Now get up and dressed. Grab your things. None of that extra equipment just the standard for your belt and the travel bag with a spare uniform. Be in the common room in ten minutes. We need to hurry."

Lottos left the room, accompanied by Lexxa's habitual "Yes, Master." The young padawan rolled out of bed and, rubbing her eyes, made quick of getting dressed and gathering her things. She wasn't sure what was happening but it was something…possibly something exciting. Unless of course Lottos had begun liking Master Kenobi's idea about early training sessions. Though, surely, even Anakin's master didn't get his padawan up at 300 hours.

Lexxa stifled a yawn as she trudged into the common room where Lottos was waiting. The lights were turned on low and Lottos looked anxious to leave. "No breakfast today, Padawan."

"We could grab a caf?" Lexxa suggested hopefully.

"No. It's bad for you. Come we should hurry."

Lexxa remained silent as they walked through the deserted halls to one of the temple's side exits. Lexxa wondered momentarily why they weren't going for the hanger. A blast of cool air and neon lighting washed over the two Jedi as they slipped through a set of the temple's side exit doors. Lottos hailed a taxi and told the blue-green skinned driver to take them to the spaceport. Lexxa remained quite throughout the flight only speaking up once Lottos had picked up two tickets for a transport off planet.

"Master, where are we going? A mission?"

Lottos shook his head. "No, not at all. You are too young to have an off-world mission. Not until you're officially thirteen years standard. I'm not even supposed to take you off planet. The council won't like this if they find out but I think it's about time you have a good culture lesson."

Lexxa looked confused. Her master was doing something blatantly against the council's wishes? 'Anakin is going to die of jealousy!'


	20. Galactic Geography And Shady Plans

Spacelanes. A novelty for Lexxa. She had never seen anything like it – the elongated streaks of light that scoped around in a sort of tunnel around them. The young padawan stood at one of the largest viewports, staring out into space with a look of total awe that is not unusual for first time hyperspace travelers.

"You like it?"

Lexxa turned around to face Lottos who was standing against the wall, shadows enveloping him from the sides as his dark cloak blended against the gloom. Lottos seemed to like the shadows, Lexxa had noticed. "Master?"

"You like it – the view?"

"It's…enchanting, Master."

""The lines and streaks – nothing but an optical allusion."

"I understand, Master."

Lottos waved a hand, motioning for Lexxa to follow him. She did so quietly, wondering what Lottos wanted. He looked serious though not annoyed or angry – a good thing to be sure.

The transport was a small one, with only five parties on board: the Jedi team, an old couple, a young woman with her son, two Twi'Lek sisters, and a man with whom Lottos had struck up a conversation in Rushanian at beginning of their flight.

They entered their small quarters and Lottos sat on his bunk, motioning for Lexxa to sit opposite him. The Jedi took out a small projector and placed a small chip in the reader. He flicked in on and a large detailed Galactic map grew in front of their eyes. Lottos entered some coordinates and the map zoomed in on a single sector. "Lets see how much they teach you in Galactic Geography. Identify the sector, Padawan."

Lexxa studied the map for a few moments before replying, "Worldision Sector, Master?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Wordision Sector, Master."

Lottos nodded. "Good. This is the Wordision sector, half of which is located in the Mid Rim and the other half in the Outer Rim." Lottos pointed to a fairly large system crowded with small planets, located in the outer Rim. "The Afikar system is one of the largest, though one of the poorest. Practically all of its planets are poor agricultural societies. Some of these planets don't have any representation in the Senate and are more like protectorates of the Republic then anything else." Lottos drew her attention away to the smaller system in the Mid Rim portion on the sector. "Aliratusa. Now, unlike Afikar, this system's planets have realized that they would be much better off allied. Therefore, they now function as a single unit within the Republic."

"Is that why they have only one representative within the Senate, Master?"

"Yes, good. So you do pay attention in you politics classes."

Lexxa, not sure as to how she should react, kept quiet.

The next system Lottos pointed to was, actually, a cluster of three systems. The two larger ones, one in the Outer the other in the Mid Rim, were joined by a small system with several small planets. "Nurus Ameria and Surus Ameria. This small system joining then is Medente Ameria. This is a system cluster; this particular one is often referred to as the Amerian cluster. Nurus Ameria has three planets, the dominant of these being Ameria, after which the system cluster is named. I want you to remember the name, Padawan."

Lexxa nodded.

On the other side of the map was a double system with their two outer obits overlapping. "The Eurisian System. These are actually two different systems that are joined together by two overlapping orbits." Lottos zoomed in on the systems. "The Outer Rim system is Sia and the Mid Rim system is Euri. After the annexation of the two systems into the Republic, with the exceptions of several stuborn planets, the systems became known as one whole."

Lexxa nodded again.

"Alright. The point of all of this is so you know the immediate cosmic area of where we are going. We are headed here." Lottos zoomed in on a planet in the outer orbit of Euri. "Rushania."

"Why are we going there, Master?"

Lottos ran a hand over his hair. "It is part of your heritage. You are almost a pure blood Rushanina. I felt it was important that I show you this place, especially since we will be arriving on quite the significant date."

"I though Jedi were not allowed possession, Master? I thought that our planets of birth were suppose to just that – our places of birth, having no significance beyond that." Confusion settled around the young padawan.

Lottos fought down his irritation. She was young, after all. Nether was she a pure blood, so the call of Rushania was not as strong and natural as it was in him. He would have to change that. "Our heritage is something that links you and I, Padawan. Possibly even more so then our Jedi Force Bond."

"I don't understand, Master."

Should he tell her about the bond? Should he tell her what he didn't figure out until he was a knight…? Should he try to explain the significance of this? No. No, she was not ready. Or maybe he was the one not ready to admit to everything, to delve into some truths and memories? Was it that it was simply a feeling that had to be felt and couldn't be put into words? It didn't matter. "In time you will, Padawan."

* * *

One thing that Arbetski liked about his office at headquarters was that it had a window which looked out at one of the main streets of Wocsom. He liked to stand there with his morning caf and watch the people milling around outside, too caught up in their own private worlds to care about who was watching them from the windows above.

That morning he took his usual position at the window, cup of caf in hand, and watched the flags as they fluttered in the wind. The holiday feel was thick in the air. The stacks of papers on his desk were high and neat, not touched for the past few days as he had been too concerned with matters that did not concern his official position in the government. Cards were still strewn across the table in the corner of the room. The card game the other night had left him and his companions somewhat too intoxicated to clean up before they staggered off toward home.

Arbetski stood still, as though unaware of the other four men in the room. They waited patiently for him to address them. "Today," he said finally.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Stefonov questions bemusedly. "Things could get ugly…I don't think it is wise to endanger the citizens like this."

"They will all be drunk," Arbetski countered. "There will be no struggle. Besides, we have waited too long for revenge. We must get it now. The Germynians will never be welcome here…in any form. It is about time we established that."

One of the men in the back coughed nervously. "Sir, today is a holiday. It is a happy day…violent actions are completely out of place."

Arbetski rounded on him, a fierce look in his eyes. "Ha! A happy day you say? Shall I remind you, Fedor, how many people died in that genocide? Today we remember what we lost! Today begins our revenge. I though we had agreed to this plan, is anyone backing away."

Stefonov shifted uncomfortably. "Not at all, my friend. We are still with you and always will be. We were merely surprised at the decision."

"Well don't be. There is nothing surprising or condemnable, may I add, in—"

The door burst open with a bang, bringing into sight a young woman who was one of Arbetski's most trusted aids. "Mister Arbetski, sir! I've just received a report that a Republic transport had landed!"

Arbetski smiled lazily. "Taris, my dear, you are aware that there are no more restrictions on our planet's citizen's to travel. Republic transports do appear in the area from time to time."

She shook her head. "No, sir, you miss understood me. There were Jedi on board. Jedi!"

The room fell silent, all watching Arbetski's reaction carefully. He took a sip of his caf, a thoughtful look on his face. When he turned to face the others there was a glint in his eyes and a grin on his face. "Good. I hope they stick around for the show."


End file.
